


■ Vr-; j 





riNiBBL 





Kor S 


^pv^vs 

9”3|L ' ' >'jr 


■ m 

;^l 

B ' 4* ff,/ - . 




it 

; 


K tjK i‘ 








Class 

Book_?Mii. 
Gopight}!?. -St 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 


I V J 


4 » 






\ ^ 




"4: 






'-I 






ft 


m * 




%/ 


<: y ^ i'/L f 


\ t 


?); 


i}i 


ur* 






i*< 


*- f.| 






t 




>'K \ 


/H 


-v.^ 


’ 'K 




i 




. Vi 




S' 




> 


It 




r. 


jH! 


• * 


SF -Y ^ . • 




.'St 


■ .'js ■ 

■AT 


« • 1 


t *i 










'?>i 


:4‘j 


‘Vd 


** ^ 




«» 


’’ll 




' -1 


'VV/ 




4 . 




<a1 








'-'V, 




'»i • 


^:fL 


!'■ 


W 




I > 






IN 




to' 


lij^ 


•4 .:v! 




,'t^ 

1? 


Jf 


-i, 


.1 I 


rj 4 i 




i.’ 


Vi 




.. ■H5 

‘i ^ 




r 


Si. 


•/V 




< . * 


■k' 




[4» 


/R>' 


V, .-.-M 


» .. . I 




a: 






^ /5 




T 




5 ‘f 


I 


:i- 




v.*. 


V\ 


rt; 




V. <• 




'*• 


- W 

' ' " *i* * A' ■ 

l>*"- i./.;>|.( f"- 


L« 








i^j 








1 w 






.•yki 


h 


K' I 


..Vi ■'- 


M' 


< /*• 






»• 




?#R5 




w 


V) 




(•' 4 | tr-^ 

iT V 


*/ 


It/ 




t* 4 ii 


'i^ 


.V»v 


I 1 Tt. 


A- 


■.;.T-f 


#» 


t. 


■^V* ’t' 


♦ > 




'i' 

ar*- 4 »>^^ 




't ’^.k' 


• IV.-: t 




Itw.-' 




l»lt 


A»T 




yiv, 


• y 




lfi^ 




■R' 


'a 


i/- 


kfl* 


.M, 


.* # 


V. 


V»i 




* I 


i^j 


s .«/ An/ 


m 


-rv 


% 


> *4 




> 




r <. 





STORIES OF 
LITTLE FISHES 




♦N- 

♦N- 




Phyllis' Field Friends 

BY 

Lenore E. Mulcts 

Each I vol., large i 2 mo, cloth decorative^ 
with 6 full-page plates from drawings 
by Sophie Schjteider. Per vol., $/.oo 

INSECT STORIES 

BIRD STORIES 

FLOWER STORIES 

STORIES OF LITTLE ANIMALS 

TREE STORIES 

STORIES OF LITTLE FISHES 

L. C. PAGE & COMPANY 

New England Building, Boston, Mass. 




•H* 

< 4 *- 

<4* 

<4* 

<4- 

•<4 

<4* 

-^4 

<4 

-<4 

<4 

^4 

<4 

-<4 

<4 

<4 

-4- 

Jlis 



V 




W E never failed 
to make a 
good catch ’ " 

(See page 9) 


; 




Pijgllts’ jFieUt JFrienlis 


STORIES OF 
LITTLE FISHES 


By 

Lenore Elizabeth Mulcts 


Illustrated by 

Sophie Schneider 


“ When our babe he goeth walking in his garden 
A round his tinkling feet the stmbeatns play ; 

The posies they are good to hint 
A nd bow them as t^y should to him^ 

As he fareth upon his kingly way : 

The birdlings of the wood to him 

Make music, gentle music, all the day 

When our bcu)e he goeth walking in his garden.'''* 

— Eugene Field. 



Boston: L, C, 

and Company ^ igoy 



5 + 


LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Twu CoDies rteceiyoa 

MAR RO 1905 

GouyriKnt tnuy 

2CJ9 

OUSS a. AXc. Noi 

/// 

COPY a. 


Copyright, igos 
By L. C. Page & Company 

(incorporated) 

All rights reserved 


Published March, 1905 


COLONIAL PRESS 

Electrotyped and Printed by C. H . Simonds <5^* Co. 
Boston, Mass., U.S. A. 


PREFACE 


If you go a-fishing with Phyllis you must 
expect to catch any sort of creature which hap- 
pens to come your way. 

A child who goes fishing is quite apt, and 
quite content, to come home with a half-dozen 
crayfish or as many snails. 

Will you, then, who read this book under 
the general title of fishes, be content if once 
in a while you chance upon an eel, or a turtle, 
or a frog instead of a real fish? 

Lenore Elizabeth Mulets. 


August, 190 J^. 













CONTENTS 


PAGE 

The Salmon 

The Story of the Salmon .... 3 

How Lox Failed to Catch the Salmon . . 11 

All About the Salmon .... 16 

The Whitefish 

The Summer Vacation .... 21 

The First Whitefish . . . . .32 

All About the Whitefish . . . .38 

The Catfish 

From the Lake ...... 41 

How the Heads of Catfish Became Flat . 46 

All About the Catfish 56 

Minnows 

How Phyllis Fished 59 

The Fisherman and His Wife ... 64 

All About the Minnows .... 80 

The Eel 

A Strange Sort of Fish . . . .83 

How the Eel Lost His Coat of Fur . . 89 

All About the Eel ..... 105 

vii 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


viii 


The Lizard 

When Phyllis Waded . . . . .109 

The First Lizard . . . . .115 

All About the Water-Lizard . . .125 

The Frog 

The Evening Concert . . . . .129 

The Hares and the Frogs . . . .139 

The Frogs Asked for a King . . . 141 

The Frog and the Ox 143 

The Boys and the Frogs .... 145 

The Frog-Prince 146 

Why the Frog Has No Tail .... 154 

All About the Frog 160 

The Toad 

The Frog’s Quiet Cousin . . . .165 

The Toad’s Jewel 171 

All About the Toads 179 


The Snail 

From the Snail’s Front Door . . .183 

The Snail and the Rose-Tree . . .188 

All About the Snail 192 


The Crayfish 

In Coat of Mail ...... 197 

Where Go the Boats ? 201 

All About the Crayfish . . . .203 

The Tortoise, Terrapin, Turtle 

Another Gentleman in a Shell . . . 207 
The Tortoise and the Eagle . . . 214 


The 


CONTENTS 

ix 

PAGE 

The Tortoise and the Hare . 

. 215 

How the Terrapin Won the Race . 

. 217 

How the Turtle Escaped 

. 226 

All About the Turtle .... 

. 236 

Trout 

How the Trout Was Caught 

. 239 

How the First Trout Came . 

. 243 

All About the Brook-Trout . 

. 249 

! Perch Family 

The Day’s Catch .... 

. 253 

The Mermaid ..... 

. 263 

Phyllis’s Catch ..... 

. 273 

How Jack Caught the Perch 

. 281 

All About the Perch Family 

. 286 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


^ We never failed to make a good 

catch ’ ’’ (see page 9) . Frontispiece ^ 

^ Here is another fresh-water friend 

foryou’’’ 41 

^ There are more than a thousand vari- ^ 
eties of minnows ’ . . . . 62 

Phyllis . . . sat on the great rock ” . 109 ' 

^ I wish you would come home with 

me ’ ’’ 170/ 

She noticed how perfectly satisfied her 
father seemed ’’ . . . . 239 


\ 


• \ • 


THE SALMON 










THE SALMON 


THE STOEY OF THE SALMON 

One evening the family gathered about the 
pleasant wood fire, and, for a time, sat in 
silence, watching the sparks fiy up the chim- 
ney. 

What a good night for stories! ’’ said 
Phyllis. Papa, tell us one.’’ 

I was just thinking,” said papa, of a 
time long before you were born. I was a 
young man when, one spring, I went West to 
visit a friend. 

The first day I was there my friend asked 
me to go salmon-fishing with him. Now the 


4 


THE SALMON 


salmon are large fish found only in the west- 
ern part of our country. 

They live a part of the time in the Pacific 
Ocean; and the rest of the time in the rivers 
which empty into the ocean. 

We started for the fishing-place very early 
in the morning, because it is said that the best 
time for catching salmon is between four in 
the morning and twelve o’clock. 

As we sat in the floating boat waiting for 
a bite, my friend told me many things which 
I never knew before about the salmon. 

He told me how, when it is time for the 
mother salmons to lay their eggs, they know 
in some way it is best not to leave them in the 
salt water of the ocean, but in the clear cold 
water of the mountain streams. 

For this purpose they enter the rivers, 
and swim slowly and steadily up-stream for 


THE STORY OF THE SALMON 5 


days and days. It is said that, when the sal- 
mon first enter the cold fresh water, they frisk 
and sport about as though in play. Their 
frolic, however, is soon over; and they quietly 
continue the journey. Sometimes they make 
as much as four miles in a day; but usually 
they do not travel more than two miles dur- 
ing the twenty-four hours. 

Now, when they are young, all salmon of 
one family look very much alike; and they 
splash about in the ocean, their bluish white 
sides gleaming like polished silver. But, when 
they are about three years old, they are full- 
grown; and it is time for them to move up- 
stream to place their eggs in safe places. 

Then it is that each salmon chooses his 
wife; and together they start on their long 
journey. About this time a curious change 
takes place in the salmon. 


6 


THE SALMON 


The mother salmon loses her silvery col- 
our, and becomes dull and slimy. Her scales 
seem to sink into her skin. Her flesh, which 
before was Arm and red, now becomes very 
pale and white. 

The father salmon, too, begins to change. 
His colour changes from silvery to different 
shades of black and red. His front teeth be- 
come very long. The teeth on his tongue dis- 
appear. More than that, his jaws begin to 
grow. They grow and grow until they are 
so long that they shut together like shears. 
They become sharply hooked, and sometimes 
poor father salmon is unable to shut his mouth 
at all. 

‘‘So it is that the pairs of salmon which 
journey up the river together are sadly differ- 
ent in looks from the young silvery Ashes 
which once sported in the ocean waters. 


THE STORY OF THE SALMON 7 


‘‘ When a pair of salmon find a place which 
they consider best for a nest, they stop. They 
nsnally choose the gravelly bed of a stream 
where the water runs clear and fast. 

‘‘ Then the father goes to work; and, with 
his tail and those strangely hooked jaws of 
which I told you, hollows out a broad, shallow 
nest at the bottom of the water. 

‘‘ In the nest, the mother places her eggs. 
The father sees that they are in condition to 
hatch; and, there together, the parent fishes 
cover the eggs with stones and gravel, and 
leave them to come out at the proper time. 

The parent salmon now prepare to fioat 
down-stream; but, alas, it seems that now 
their life-work is done, since there will be 
young salmon to take the place of the old ones. 
The parents never live to again reach the 


8 THE SALMON 

ocean. They all die before the journey is half 
done. 

In five or six months the young salmon 
hatch. Out of the eggs come beautiful sil- 
very fishes with firm, fine fiesh as red as bricks. 

The young fish seem to know at once that, 
at the mouth of the river, there is a wide 
ocean where there is plenty of room for them 
to grow up. 

They begin the journey immediately. 
They fioat down-stream tail first. They jump 
roaring falls and slide over bubbling rapids. 
On, and on, and on they go. Some parent 
fishes travel over a thousand miles up-stream 
before they find a suitable place to build their 
nests. So the young must travel down-stream 
that thousand miles before they reach the 
ocean. 

The salmon are the most valuable fish in 


THE STORY OF THE SALMON 9 


the world. No other fish is so extensively 
canned. Each year over twelve million dol- 
lars’ worth of salmon are sold from the Pacific 
coast of our country.” 

But, papa, you haven’t told us that you 
caught any fish that morning! ” laughed Phyl- 
lis, when the story was ended. 

‘‘ Indeed, the first one I caught weighed ten 
pounds,” said papa. I was very much 
pleased with myself until my friend said that 
was about the usual size of those salmon. 

For many mornings we went out fish- 
ing; and we never failed to make a good catch 
of salmon.” 

The fire had burned low by now; and the 
sparks no longer chased each other up the 
chimney. It was quite dark; but, from the 
red glow the coals sent forth, Phyllis was seen 
to nod sleepily. 


10 


THE SALMON 


“ To bed, to bed! ” laughed mamma, rising 
from ber low rocker, “ The crickets have 
been singing their good nights to you for an 
hour.” 


HOW LOX FAILED TO CATCH THE 
SALMON ^ 

Rusk was the Indian name for crane; and 
Lox was the Indian name for wolverine. Rusk 
and Lox lived on the same prairie, through 
which ran a slow, quiet brook. 

Now Rusk was long-billed, long-legged, and 
lazy; while Lox was sharp-nosed, bright- 
eyed, and full of mischief. 

It happened, one morning, that Rusk, on 
awakening, found himself very hungry. As 
he stretched out his long legs and flapped his 
little wings sleepily, he remembered that, on 
the evening before, he had been too lazy to 

‘Adapted from “Algonquin Legends of New England,” by 
Leland, by permission of the publishers, Houghton, Mifflin & Com- 
pany. 

11 


12 


THE SALMON 


catch any fish for his supper. Now he felt 
too faint and hungry to wait to catch a 
fish. 

I will go to Lox/’ said he. He is so 
cunning that he is sure to have found some- 
thing by this time.’’ Accordingly Rusk went 
to the home of Lox. 

Good morning, friend Rusk! ” said Lox. 

Good morning, dear Lox! ” replied Rusk, 
quite faintly. 

What can I do for you this morning? ” 
asked Lox. Do you need a medicine-man? 
Your voice is very weak and your step is very 
languid.” 

Ah, no,” said Rusk. I am not ill. I am 
only faint from lack of food.” 

A twinkle came into the bright eyes of Lox; 
but his voice seemed full of sympathy. He 
knew how lazy Rusk was. 


HOW LOX FAILED 


13 


It is a pity to go hungry/’ he said. Al- 
low me to serve you with what remains from 
my breakfast.” 

Then Lox brought in a great pudding in a 
broad, flat dish. Eusk ran forward eagerly, 
for the pudding smelled very good. But alas, 
alas! with his long bill and the flat plate poor 
Eusk could get no breakfast at all! After 
trying and trying, he turned toward the brook 
without even saying good-bye. Lox, as he 
lapped up the remains of the pudding, laughed 
until his sides ached. 

All that day Eusk was angry. He turned 
on his toes, and walked away when Lox crept 
up through the tall grass. He waded out into 
the water, and looked only at his own reflec- 
tion when Lox called to him. 

But, on the following morning, Eusk 
seemed to forget his anger. He spoke very 


14 


THE SALMON 


good-naturedly to Lox; and even invited him 
to dinner that day. Lox wrinkled up his nose 
in doubt, but he nevertheless accepted Rusk’s 
invitation, and went to dine in a shady spot 
beside the brook. 

Rusk brought out a tall slender jug. It was 
filled with delicious soup. But Lox could not 
get even a taste; while Rusk with ease stuck 
in his long bill and drank up the soup. 

‘‘ Ah! you do not like soup? ” said Rusk, 
quietly. Perhaps you are fond of salmon. 
I will see if I can catch one.” 

With that Rusk waded out; and, in a mo- 
ment, struck into the water and brought out 
a fine salmon. He swallowed it before he came 
ashore. 

Salmon are very good this season,” he 
remarked, as he came out of the water. Lox 
said nothing. 


HOW LOX FAILED 


15 


Just then a fine salmon slipped through the 
water very near the hank. Lox made a spring 
for it, fell head first into the water, and was 
carried down-stream by the current. It was 
a wet, bedraggled Lox who crawled out on the 
opposite shore somewhat farther down the 
stream. 

A look of satisfaction came into the eyes of 
Rusk; and his long legs seemed to lengthen 
with pride. But he did not laugh as he carried 
out the tall, slender jug. He just stood on the 
bank and looked pityingly toward Lox, who, 
with all his cunning, had been beaten at his 
own tricks. 


ALL ABOUT THE SALMON 


SUGGESTIONS FOR FIELD LESSONS 

Body: long, slender, and compressed. 

Snout: long and pointed. 

Mouth: wide; jaws long, — in male, — 
growing exceedingly long and hooked during 
spawning-time. 

Teeth: quite small. 

Head: short. 

Colour: (silver salmon) greenish blue on 
back; rest of body silvery white. Males are 
generally red in the autumn. 

Both male and female salmon are subject 
to great physical changes during spawning 
period. 


16 


ALL ABOUT THE SALMON 17 


Eggs are placed in the gravelly bed of a 
rapid stream; and, being fertilized, are cov- 
ered over. Both male and female die before 
again reaching the ocean. 

The eggs hatch in five or six months, and 
float tail first down-stream. The young sal- 
mon mature at about three years of age. 

















THE WHITEFISH 



THE WHITEFISH 


THE SUMMER VACATION 

Oh-ooo-oo-ee ! ’’ cried Phyllis, in a voice 
that was shrill with excitement. 

‘‘ Who-oo-oop! cried Jack, with a real 
imitation of a war-dance. 

Papa was reading aloud from a letter, and 
mamma was leaning over his shoulder, half- 
reading, but still watching the children, laugh- 
ingly. 

We shall go,’’ said Phyllis, who knew how 
to read her father’s face. I can tell by the 
twinkle in papa’s eyes, and by that little 
twitching of mamma’s lips! ” 


21 


22 


THE WHITEFISH 


Would you like it? ’’ asked papa, looking 
at Jack. 

I could fish all day long,’’ said Jack, with 
a very happy look in his eyes. 

So you could,” replied papa, ‘‘ and so 
could I. Let’s be ready to go on Thursday! ” 

And Thursday was two whole days away! 
How could the children ever manage to wait 
such a long time? 

For several weeks the family had been plan- 
ning for papa’s vacation. A dozen plans had 
been made and then cast aside. Now, here, 
at the last moment, an old friend writes to 
papa, saying that there is a charming cot- 
tage up in the mountains which will be an 
excellent place for vacation. 

He told them of thick, sweet-smelling 
woods, tall, white-headed blossoms, and a 
pebbly brook which ran right past the cottage. 


THE SUMMER VACATION 23 


and poured itself into the waters of a great, 
quiet lake. The lake’s water was clear and 
blue and quite alive with fishes. 

We will go in bathing,” said Phyllis, 
and we will splash about and get the taste 
of salt in our mouths, and throw starfish at 
each other.” 

‘‘ Oh, Phyllis, Phyllis! we are not going to 
the seashore. We are going to a fresh- water 
lake.” 

How do you know that it isn’t salt? ” 
asked Phyllis, quickly. 

Because it has the brook flowing into it,” 
Jack responded as quickly. Salt-water 
lakes have no inlets nor outlets.” 

Jack looked so very wise, and Phyllis knew 
so little about it, that she was forced to believe, 
and on the whole Jack was very nearly right. 
On Thursday the family alighted from the 


24 


THE WHITEFISH 


train at a little mountain village. There they 
found a comfortable old-fashioned carriage 
awaiting them. After a two hours ^ ride 
through most beautiful woods and mountain 
roads, they arrived at the cottage. 

The cottage was made of logs, and it had 
a great old-fashioned stove-chimney built at 
one end. Inside it was quite comfortably 
fitted up with rustic furniture. The ferns and 
the goldenrods grew thick and tall before the 
door, and a few yards farther on lay the lake, 
— smooth, clear, and glowing with rosy tints 
as the sun set beyond its farther shore. 

‘‘ Ah! ’’ said papa, ‘‘ this is good.’’ The 
children ran wildly about, gathering weeds 
and blossoms most recklessly. 

Soon the shadows of twilight fell, and a 
little fire crackled on the broad hearth. 

Come, children,” said papa, before it was 


THE SUMMER VACATION 25 


really dark, early to bed, early to rise, you 
know. We must not miss any of this good 
out-of-doors. We’ll go to sleep now, and get 
out bright and early in the morning.” So off 
to bed they went in order that they might be 
up with the birds the next morning. 

When Jack opened his sleepy eyes the next 
morning, there was his father going down to 
the lake, fishing-tackle in hand. Jack was 
out of bed with a bound, and into his clothes 
before you could say Jack Robinson.” 

Papa has gone to catch some fish for 
breakfast,” said mamma, as Jack came bounc- 
ing down-stairs. Phyllis crept down an 
hour ago. She is down at the lake.” 

Jack seized the line his father had made 
ready for him, and ran down to the lake. 
There sat his father and Phyllis gravely look- 
ing for a bite. Phyllis’s arms ached from hold- 


26 


THE WHITEFISH 


ing the pole so long, and she was fairly biting 
her tongue to keep from talking. 

Pl’esently something tugged at her hook. 

Oh! cried Phyllis, quite helplessly. 

What shall I do? 

Pull it in! Pull it in! shouted Jack, 
leaping to help her. With his help Phyllis 
gave a quick pull, and out of the water leaped 
a beautiful fish at the end of her line. 

The fish fiapped about quite helplessly in 
the air, and Phyllis looked at it pityingly as 
Jack imfastened the hook and put him into 
a tub of water. 

How he does need legs,’’ said Phyllis, as 
the fish flopped helplessly. 

‘‘And lungs,” added Jack, as the fish 
gasped in the air. Once in the tub of water, 
the fish needed neither legs nor lungs. But 
he needed room, and splashed about wildly. 


THE SUMMER VACATION 27 


He will be fine for breakfast/’ said Jack. 

He is too beautiful to eat,” said PhyUis. 

It’s a wbitefish,” said papa. Come, 
Jack, let’s not let our little girl prove the 
best fisherman.” 

So Jack and his father went back to their 
fishing, but Phyllis remained with her prize. 
For a long time she watched him sliding about 
in the water. 

The body of the fish was oblong, and its 
head was small and short. Its snout was 
blunt. 

In colour it was of an olive green tint, and 
its sides were white. Its fins were quite dark. 

Along each side of the fish’s head Phyllis 
saw a slit which opened and closed, opened 
and closed, continually. 

Now what in the world do you do that 


28 


THE WHITEFISH 


for*? ’’ Phyllis asked, not expecting an an- 
swer. 

To breathe/’ said the whitefish. 

Indeed, you must not breathe when you 
are under water,” cried Phyllis, for she was 
just learning to swim. 

Indeed, I must not breathe anywhere but 
under water,” said the fish. Did you not 
see how wildly I fiapped about when I was 
out of water awhile ago? ” 

Then you breathe water just as I breathe 
air? ” asked the little girl. 

No, no,” said the whitefish. Indeed I 
breathe air. I breathe the air which is in the 
water. I have no lungs for breathing, but I 
have gills. It is my gills which you are watch- 
ing through those narrow slits.” 

And — why, how do you go to sleep? ” 
Phyllis asked. You have no eyelids.” 


THE SUMMER VACATION 29 


I am not a little girl/’ said the whitefish, 
flashing his tail out of the water. I do not 
need curtains for my eyes.” 

Phyllis again sat quiet for a long time 
watching the fish as it glided lazily and easily 
about through the water. 

How very, very easy it is for you to 
swim,” said Phylhs. ‘‘ I have rather a sorry 
time when I try to swim.” 

You are not a fish any more than I am 
a little girl,” said the whitefish. ‘‘ Why do 
you try to be a fish? ” 

It is such fun — ” began Phyllis. 

You frighten us terribly,” said the white- 
fish. You are so big, and your fins do not 
grow in the right places.” 

My fins? ” laughed Phyllis. My fins 
are called hands and feet. I use them for other 
things than swimming; but I can see quite 


30 


THE WHITEFISH 


plainly that your fins were made expressly 
for swimming. Tell me what you have been 
doing all your life? ’’ 

The whitefish come of a large family. 
There are nearly a hundred different kinds of 
whitefish. Some live in the sea, others live 
in the fresh water of lakes and ponds. 

I have lived all my life in fresh water. 
Before I was hatched, my parents came up 
that little brook which runs past your house. 
There my mother laid her eggs, — many, many 
of them. Her eggs were rather large for 
fishes’ eggs. Many of them were destroyed; 
but from one, which was safely guarded by 
the grasses beside the stream, I came out. 
When I was older, I swam down to the lake. 
We prefer the deep, cold water of the lake, 
except at spawning-time. Then we seek the 


THE SUMMER VACATION 31 


shallow waters, where the eggs are left to 
hatch.’’ 

And at what time of the year do you seek 
the shallow waters to lay eggsl ” Phyllis 
asked. 

In the fall, between October and Decem- 
ber.” 

At that moment Phyllis’s father approached 
with another fish. 

“ Ah,” said he, laughing, have you found 
out anything about the whitefish? ” 

Oh, yes! ” cried Phyllis. 

‘‘ They are the most valuable of the food 
fishes,” said papa. ‘‘ In one year over fifty 
million pounds of whitefish were sold in the 
United States. Come, let us see how ours will 
taste for breakfast.” 


THE FIRST WHITEFISH^ 


Out in the middle of the lake there stood a 
huge gray stone. The waters dashed and 
foamed, and sent a mist of spray from one 
edge of the rock to the other. 

On the rock sat a crane resting. One long, 
slender leg was drawn up under his body. He 
looked quietly across the water to the swamp 
of sedges where his wife and little one were. 

Suddenly he heard a child’s voice cry out 
from the shore of the lake. He listened. The 
child was calling to him. 

Oh! crane, great crane,” cried the child 
voice, with sobbing wails. 

1 Adapted from Florence Holbrook’s “Nature Myths,” by per- 
mission of Houghton, Miflain & Company. 


32 


THE FIKST WHITEEISH 


33 


The crane flew to the bank. There stood 
two little boys. They were crying bitterly. 

What is the matter? ’’ asked the crane. 
What can I do to help you? 

Oh! ’’ cried one little boy, looking up, if 
you would but carry us across the lake. We 
are most unhappy here. A dreadful old witch 
troubles us. She will not let us rest in peace. 
We feel certain that she means to do us harm. 
We wish to get away where she can never, 
never And us! ” 

But where are your friends? the crane 
asked. 

Alas! we have no friends,’’ cried the little 
boy. We have neither father, nor mother, 
nor any relatives. Oh! crane, you are strong! 
Will you not carry us across to the opposite 
shore of the lake? ” 

The crane looked very thoughtful. 


34 


THE WHITEFISH 


''Yes,’’ said he at last. " I will carry you 
across. Leap astride my back, and hold on 
tight. I will take one at a time.” 

Just as the first little boy approached to 
mount the crane’s back, the great bird turned 
again toward him. 

" Wait,” said he. " There is one thing 
which you must promise before I take you 
across.” 

"We will promise anything,” cried the 
boys, the tears springing into their eyes again. 
They were afraid that they might not be car- 
ried across, after all. 

" It is but for your safety,” said the crane. 
"You must promise that when you are on my 
back you will not touch my head. If you do, 
down to the bottom of the water you will go 
like a flash.” 


THE FIRST WHITEFISH 


35 


The little boys’ eyes grew big and round 
with awe. 

Indeed, we will promise,” said they, very 
solemnly. We will obey. Only, hurry, or 
the wdtch will discover us again.” 

Then the little boys clambered up on the 
crane’s broad back, and he flew solemnly 
across the water, past the gray rock where the 
waves splashed, to the opposite shore. There 
he set them down, and started for the sedge- 
swamp where his wife and his little ones lived. 

Just as he reached the sedge-swamp, he 
heard a voice calling him. He turned, and 
there stood the old witch; but she was in the 
form of a gentle young woman. 

What can I do for you? ” asked the crane, 
for the young woman seemed in trouble. 

‘‘ Ah,” said she, sadly, my two dear boys 
are lost in the wood. I have searched all day 


36 


THE WHITEEISH 


long. Will you carry me across the lake? It 
may be that in some way they have wandered 
over there. 

Yes/’ said the crane. ‘‘ The spirit of the 
lake has bidden me carry across whoever 
asks. But do not touch the back of my head. 
If you do, you will fall head first into the 
water. Will you obey? ” 

Indeed I will,” said the witch. But when 
she was seated on his back, his head was very 
near her hand. I will hold on tight,” said 
she to herself. I must see what will hap- 
pen.” So she reached out her hand quite 
timidly, and touched the crane ever so gently 
on the back of his head. 

The crane pitched forward so suddenly that, 
before the witch could even cry out, she slid 
down, down, down to the very bottom of the 
deep water. Once in her true form the witch 


THE FHIST WHITEFISH 


37 


came to the top of the waves, and cried for 
help; but the crane shook his head. 

Yon did not keep your promise,’^ said he. 

You have done no good to the children of 
the forest. Now you shall live beneath the 
dark waters for ever and ever. You shall be 
called a whitefish; and when those little In- 
dian boys have grown to be great chiefs, they 
and their people shall sit on the banks of lakes 
and laugh as they draw in the whitefish for 
their evening meal.’’ 

The crane fiew back to his home in the sedge- 
swamp. The little boys wandered in peace in 
the forest, but the whitefish, even to this day, 
slide and splash about in the dark waters of 
the lake. 


ALL ABOUT THE WHITEFISH 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FIELD LESSONS 

Body: oblong, compressed. 

Head: small and short. 

Snout: blunt. 

Colour: olive above, sides white, but not 
of a silvery hue; fins dark. 

Spawn: in autumn, — one fish lays from 
ten thousand to seventy-five thousand eggs. 
The eggs are laid in shallow water, or on shelv- 
ing ledges. Many eggs are destroyed by other 
fish. Comparatively few are hatched. 

They live both in salt and fresh water, ac- 
cording to variety. Those which live in salt 
water usually seek rivers in which to lay their 
eggs. 

38 








U I •w»i 






i ‘ 

.»'« 


T 


i 




s 

r 


i 


f' - 


• V 


i 







m’H 






-vv, 


\ 




'.S' I*”.' 

■■ 

a ;’ ' '» 


^ ''M 

■■ 1 . . » * 




'rVV 


■W 


' /: I 'I' 




1 


!■ 


.» '<'1 


THE CATFISH 




./ i 


/’».'. ><■/ '( f’ 

. ... ( '.V.’'»I 




■ ? 'flu 


s I 


fU' 


M 


'IS 










i*vy 


• K- '' il ' 

I'd ^ ,' 




s ■’ 




i^'U^ 








“ ‘ I— I ERE is another 
* * fresh - water 
friend for you ’ ” 



tv 

■ ‘ 4 - 





uv 

• % ■ # 'B'^M ^ 'T. ^ 

er?:, Sj'^ ■■ A>. 


..-s 

I: 



- •<* 

1 

'• 

■ f 

. • 


ii » 

t • 

* * #• 
r 1 S < 


> 


- • ■/■’I 


* 

H 

dH 

• 


. » 
i^x W 


riV^ w 




i .' 


> « 


*4 • _ • Jt ' 

L^’ •* 




f 


'-■ -?; 




■i'*- V •.;»*. 


. \^* ' \ 
.. <* 1 • 


I 




»ik • 

x 


• . s 


t 


i!' (t ■'/■■' 

?L.' rg6^ r;v. ^ , 


f f 

i 


~y 

S\ 


f- 


'•i 

i '•» 


!■■;■■ -v.' j?* . 




• • 



•* '" 






'. ?:f^ 





4 


■:M ' 




V/*«l 


■»v 


, ;-r 

'‘1 ^-..^‘vw,-.::" 

. k. fcM ■ /. ' • 


t 



!&-• 



■.*' 




THE CATFISH 


PROM THE LAKE 

Here is another fresh- water friend for 
you, Phyllis,’’ cried Jack one day, as he came 
in from fishing. 

Another whitefish? ” asked Phyllis, be- 
fore she looked. 

No, indeed. Look at him. He is a cat.” 

A cat? ” said Phyllis. 

A catfish,” said Jack. 

See how different he is from the whitefish. 
He — he has whiskers,” said Phyllis. 

J ack laughed. 

Father just told me that those things 


41 


42 


THE CATFISH 


about bis bead are called barbels, but tbej^ do 
make bim look as tbougb be bad whiskers.” 

And these are all fresh- water fish? ” Phyl- 
lis asked. 

Father and I bad a long talk about cat- 
fish. Shall I tell you what he said? ” 

Phyllis nodded. 

u There are more than a hundred varieties 
of catfish. Some live in salt water; some in 
fresh water. Of the fresh-water catfishes, 
there are about thirty varieties in the lakes 
and rivers of the United States. 

Long ago there were no catfish found in 
the fresh waters west of the Rocky Mountains. 
But since men have put them in those streams 
they are found to thrive as in any other place. 

The ‘ blue cat/ found all through the 
rivers of the Mississippi Valley, is the largest 
of the catfish, The blue catfish grows to an 


FEOM THE LAKE 


43 


immense size. This variety often weighs from 
eighty to one hundred and fifty pounds. 

His body is long and slender. His head is 
small and narrow. His mouth, too, is rather 
small and narrow. Fishes usually have big 
mouths. 

^ ^ This fellow is a very cleanly fish. He lives 
in clear, swift-flowing water as a usual thing, 
and very likely swam into the lake from some 
swift stream. 

He is very active, and his flesh is firm 
and flaky, and of a delicious flavour.” 

‘‘ He does not seem to have scales,” said 
Phyllis. 

No,” Jack replied. Only those bony 
plates about the sides of his head. In colour 
he is of a bluish tinge above, and lighter on 
the sides, with these small round blackish 


44 


THE CATFISH 


spots. See how silvery white he is under- 
neath.’’ 

He is really quite a beauty,” said Phyllis. 

See, his fins are edged with black.” 

How did you catch him? ” asked Phyllis. 

I put a live crayfish on the hook for bait,” 
said Jack. They are much more apt to take 
live bait.” 

‘‘You are getting to be a great fisherman,” 
laughed Phyllis. “ I know a verse about the 
catfish. Shall I repeat it for you? ” 

“ Do.” 


“ ‘ His face is broad and flat and glum. 
It’s like a monstrous miller’s thumb. 
It’s bearded like the pard. 
Beholding him the graylings flee, 

The trout take refuge in the sea. 

The gudgeons go on guard.’ ” 


FROM THE LAKE 


45 


Well,” laughed Jack, the one who wrote 
that verse certainly did not much admire the 
catfish.” Then he went whistling down to the 
lake again. 


HOW THE HEADS OF CATFISH 
BECAME FLAT 


Long and long ago, the catfish lived together 
in a beautiful, peaceful lake in the west coun- 
try. There were thousands of catfish, big and 
little, old and young; and they lived together 
in peace and quiet. 

But as time went on the old chief of the cat- 
fish died, and in his place was chosen his son, 
who was quite young and conceited. Now of 
all this tribe of fish not one was disloyal or 
disobedient to his chief, though many a one 
in his heart saw the foolish ways of the young 
chief of the catfish. 

One day, as the young chief of the catfish 

46 


THE HEADS OF CATFISH 47 


sat at the doorway of his deep-water wigwam, 
he was disturbed by the unsettled appearance 
of the water. There was a splashing and 
plunging, and something heavy and dark was 
set in the water so near that the chief of the 
catfish was obliged to swim away, and blow 
air-bubbles up through the cool water in an- 
other spot. 

Now the young chief was annoyed by this 
disturbance, and he angrily called to the other 
catfish of the tribe that they might assemble 
without delay. 

In an instant, from all directions came the 
catfish of the tribe, their sides glistening, their 
round, lidless eyes wide with surprise, their 
round, ball-like heads bobbing with haste. 

What would the great chief of the cat- 
fish have of his braves? asked the fish. 

What is that which disturbs me while 


48 


THE CATFISH 


I blow air-bubbles up through the water as I 
sit at the doorway of my wigwam? It makes 
the waters rough and muddy, and it hurls 
great black things into the water at me. Tell 
me, what is this which has disturbed me? ’’ 
The younger catfish looked at the older cat- 
fish. The older catfish opened and closed their 
great mouths — opened and closed them 
again; then they spoke to their young chief. 

That which disturbed you,’’ they said, 
‘‘ was the great moose who often comes down 
to the water’s edge to eat of the grass and 
rushes, and to drink. He comes most often 
at evening-time when the sunset colours glow 
reddest in the western sky.” 

And why, then, did he throw great stones 
at me and try to kill me? It is time, I think, 
that the catfish braves painted with war-paint, 
and danced the war-dance of the fishes,” 


THE HEADS OE CATFISH 49 

Indeed, oh, chief of the catfish! ’’ said the 
old fish of the tribe; — indeed, the moose 
intended no harm to you. He is of those crea- 
tures without scales and fins. He wears hair 
in place of scales, and swims on dry land with 
legs instead of fins and tails. He has curtains 
which he draws down over his eyes when 
night comes and he wishes to rest. 

It was his fins, which are called legs and 
feet, which annoyed you. He but swam 
through the air to that place for food. He 
meant you no harm. He did not even know 
that you were there. He has never heard of 
you.” 

Never heard of me! ” cried the chief of 
the catfish, lashing with his tail, so angry was 
he. Never heard of me, your chief! Indeed, 
I think it time that he should hear of me. I 


50 


THE CATFISH 


command you to put on your war-paint and 
dance the war-dance on your fin-tips/^ 

The catfish tribe looked to their spears 
which they always carried, and on their fin- 
tips they danced the war-dance of the fishes, 
though in their hearts they knew that the 
young chief had made a mistake. 

Then the chief of the catfish commanded 
his followers to hide amid the rushes and the 
grasses when again the red afterglow of sun- 
set filled the western sky. He told them not 
more to do save to watch and follow him, for 
he would make himself known to the moose 
even after the same manner as the moose had 
made known his presence to the chief of the 
catfish. 

Accordingly, when again evening came, the 
catfish with sharp, strong spears, and round 
heads with lidless eyes, came sliding through 


THE HEADS OF CATFISH 51 


the water, and waited in hiding behind the 
tall grasses and rushes. 

Watch, and follow as I lead,’^ said the 
catfish chief; and the catfish, being loyal to 
their chief, opened and closed their great 
mouths as a sign of consent. 

The fishes had not long to wait. Scarce 
had the sun vanished, when, out of the thicket, 
the moose came swimming through the air on 
the fins which on land are called legs and feet. 
He came straight to the spot where the cat- 
fish lay hidden, and planted one heavy fin, 
which is his foot, into the water, stirring up 
the mud and the pebbles. Another and an- 
other and still another of this creature ^s 
queer land-fins were thrown into the water. 

Then he bent his head on which grew tree- 
like horns, and began to suck up the water 
with a strange sound which frightened the 


52 


THE CATFISH 


hidden fishes, but which only angered still 
more the young chief. 

In a moment it chanced that the land-fins 
of the moose brushed against the fins of the 
chief of the catfish. 

In anger the young chief rushed at the 
moose and thrust his spear into the leg near- 
est him. At once the other catfish rushed from 
their hiding-places on all sides, and thrust 
their spears into the moose’s legs. 

Then it was that the moose leaped into the 
air on his land-fins, and sank down again with 
a splash so great that, to the little fishes, it 
seemed as if the ripples spread out to the ends 
of the world. 

What is it? What is it?” cried the 
moose, still jumping about. Then he looked 
down and saw the catfish on aU sides of him. 

‘‘ Who are you? Who are you? ” cried the 


THE HEADS OF CATFISH 53 


moose. Wlio are you that thrust your 
spears into my legs? ’’ 

I am the chief of the catfish/’ cried the 
young chief. ‘‘ I rule this lake. No one may 
drink of this water, nor muddle its clearness 
without my consent. I am here with my tribe 
to drive you from the place for ever. Go at 
once! ” 

But the great moose did not go. With his 
heavy hoofs he began to trample upon the un- 
lucky fishes. A great number were killed, and 
those who escaped swam away as fast as pos- 
sible. 

Oh, that dreadful trampling of the creature 
with land-fins! When the catfish reached a 
place of quiet, they turned to look at each 
other. Behold, every fish on whose head the 
hoofs had descended was as fiat as fiat could 
be. 


54 


THE CATFISH 


I fear/’ said the young chief of the cat- 
fish, who had the fiattest head of all, — I 
very much fear that we do not own this lake 
after all. I wish you all to learn a lesson from 
this experience.” 

What is the lesson? ” said the wise old 
catfish, opening and closing their great 
mouths, for they were unable to move their 
stiff necks, or their fiattened heads. 

It is that creatures with land-fins and 
creatures with water-fins would do well to at- 
tend always to the affairs of their own tribes, 
and not fancy that the whole pond belongs 
to any but the Great Spirit who watches over 
the creatures with land-fins as well as those 
of water-fins.” 

It is a good lesson,” said the old catfish. 

It is a very good lesson. Let us always wear 


THE HEADS OF CATFISH 55 


these flat heads as a sign to each other of the 
lesson we have learned/’ 

Thus it happens that to this day, as the cat- 
flsh show their flattened heads amid the reeds 
and rushes of our lakes and brooks, they do 
not use their spears nor try to drive us who 
have land-flns from the water. 


ALL ABOUT THE CATFISH 

SUGGESTIONS EOR EIELD LESSONS 

Body; long and slender. Back; elevated a 
little. Body; not covered with scales, but 
naked or covered with bony plates. 

Head; rather narrow and small. Has eight 
barbels or fleshy projections. 

Colour; bluish above; lighter spotted, with 
black on sides, and silvery white underneath. 
Fins ; have dark edges. 

Many varieties in both fresh and salt water. 
The channel flsh is probably most cleanly and 
active in its habits; and its flesh is most flne, 
firm, and palatable. 


66 


MINNOWS 


t 


t 




/ 





I 





I 


f 



MINNOWS 

HOW PHYLLIS FISHED 

Phyllis and her mother were left alone at 
the cottage one day. Her father and Jack took 
the boat at sunrise, and went across to the 
other end of the lake to fish. 

As they expected to sit out in the boat in 
the sun all day, mamma thought Phyllis would 
do better to stay with her. 

Phyllis was quite disappointed at first; for 
with her father and Jack as teachers she was 
becoming quite a little fisherwoman. She had 
learned to bait her hooks and take the fishes 
off as well as J ack. 

59 


60 


MINNOWS 


WTien she ran down to the lake shore, there, 
on a great rock where she loved to sit, was a 
can of bait and her line and hook. 

He’s the nicest brother I ever had,” said 
Phyllis, laughing. You sit here beside me, 
mother, and I’ll show you what I can catch. 
Perhaps it will be a whale. If it’s a whale, 
you’ll have to run, or it will spout water all 
over you, you know.” 

So mamma sat down on the rock beside 
Phyllis, and all was quiet for a moment. Then 
the float began to bob up and down quite 
alarmingly. 

Sh-h! ” said Phyllis, though no one ex- 
cept herself was making the least sound, — 

You must keep still or you’ll scare it 
away! ” 

Another bobbing of the float and Phyllis 


HOW PHYLLIS FISHED 


61 


gave a jerk which threw the fish straight 
against mamma’s face. 

Oh! I beg your pardon, mamma,” cried 
PhyUis. 

‘‘ Is it a whale? ” mamma asked, as she 
wiped the water away. ‘‘You said a whale 
might wet me, you know.” 

“ Well, really — ” began Phyllis, and then 
she began to laugh, for the fish she had caught 
was not more than three inches long. 

“ It is hardly a whale,” she said, as she un- 
fastened it from the hook and threw it back 
into the water. “ I do not know how it is that 
I nearly always catch minnows. They are 
only good for bait.” 

“ Oh, no,” said mamma. “ They are good 
to eat, except that they are so little and so 
full of bones that it hardly seems worth 
while.” 


62 


MINNOWS 


‘‘ There are more than a thousand varieties 
of minnows. They are never large fish. In the 
Eastern States we scarcely ever find one more 
than a foot in length, and more often they are 
only a few inches. 

The hornyhead is a sort of minnow which 
is common in almost all of our small streams. 
Every boy or girl who goes ^ a-fishing ’ 
knows this fish; although he may not know its 
name. It is very active; and is most easily 
caught with a hook baited with an angleworm. 
When caught it makes a great fight for so 
small a creature. It is probably a hornyhead 
which you caught. They are very fine for 
bait.’^ 

The minnows have beautiful colours,’’ 
said Phyllis. I caught one a few days ago, 
and its back was bluish green and its sides a 
bright green with glints of gold where the 



‘“THERE are more 
I than a thousand 
varieties of minnows ’ ” 




HOW PHYLLIS PISHED 


63 


light struck it. Underneath, it was pale, but 
not exactly silvery. Its fins were a pale, red 
yellow.’’ 

That was a hornyhead,” said mamma. 
‘‘ In the spring the males have a spot of crim- 
son on each side of their heads, and a rosy 
tinge on the under part of the body.” 

Well,” said Phyllis, as she cast in her 
hook for another bite, I think more of min- 
nows than I did.” 


THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE 


1 . 

Once upon a time there was a Fisherman 
who lived with his wife in a hut in a ditch, near 
the sea. The Fisherman used to go out aU day 
long to catch fish. One day, as he sat on the 
shore with his rod, he felt his line puUed. He 
drew it in; and at the end was a great Fish. 
The Fish said to him: 

Pray let me live. I am not a real Fish. I 
am an enchanted Prince. Put me into the 
water again, and let me go.’^ 

Oh,’’ said the Fisherman. You need 
not make so many words about the matter. I 
wish to have nothing to do with a Fish that 
can talk. So swim away as fast as you please. ” 

64 


THE FISHERMAN AND IHS WIFE 65 

He put him back into the water. The Fish 
darted straight down to the bottom, and left 
a long streak of blood behind him. When the 
Fisherman went home to his wife in the ditch, 
he told her of the Fish. 

‘‘ Did you not ask it for anything? said 
the wife. 

No,’’ said the Fisherman. What should 
I ask for? ” 

‘‘ Ah! ” said the wife. We live meanly 
here in this poor ditch. Go back and tell the 
Fish we want a little cottage.” 

The Fisherman did not much like to do this; 
but he went to the sea, and looked out. The 
water was yellow and green. He stood on the 
edge, and cried: 

Oh, man of the sea! 

Come, listen to me, — 


66 


MINNOWS 


For Alice, my wife, 

The plague of my life, 

Hath sent me to beg a boon of thee/’ 

At that the Fish swam to him, and 
said: 

Well, what does she want? ” 

Ah! ” said the Fisherman. My wife 
says that, when I caught you, I ought to have 
asked you for something before I let you go 
again. She does not like to live in the ditch. 
She wants a little cottage.” 

Go home, then,” said the Fish. She is 
in the cottage already.” So the Fisherman 
went home; and saw his wife at the door of 
the cottage. 

Come in, come in,” said she. Is not this 
better than a ditch? ” And there was a par- 
lour, and a chamber, and a kitchen. Behind 


THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE 67 


the cottage was a little garden, with all sorts 
of flowers and fruits, and a yard fuU of ducks 
and chickens. 

Ah! ’’ said the Fisherman. How hap- 
pily we shall live now.’^ 

At least we can try,’’ answered his wife. 


n. 

All went well for a week or two, and then 
Dame Alice said: 

Husband, there is not room enough in this 
cottage; the garden and the yard are both too 
small. I should like a large stone castle to live 
in. So go to the Fish, and tell him to give us 
a castle.” 

‘‘ Wife,” said the Fisherman, I do not 
like to ask again. I fear he will be angry. 
Let us be content with the cottage.” 


68 


MINNOWS 


Nonsense! He will give you what you 
want. Go along and try. ’ ’ 

The Fisherman went; but his heart was 
heavy. 

He came to the sea, — and the water was 
gray and gloomy; but it was calm. He stood 
on the edge and cried again: 

Oh, man of the sea! 

Come, listen to me, — 

For Alice, my wife. 

The plague of my life. 

Hath sent me to beg a boon of thee ! 

Well, what does she want now? asked 
the Fish. 

‘‘ Ah! ’’ said the Fisherman. My wife 
wants to live in a stone castle.’’ 

Go home then; she is standing at the door 


THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE 69 


of it already.” Away went the Fisherman, 
and fonnd his wife standing before a great 
castle. 

See,” said she. Is not this grand? ” 
With that they both went into the castle, 
where they fonnd men and maids waiting to 
serve them. The rooms were filled with golden 
chairs and tables. Behind the castle was a 
garden and a wood. Goats were in the field; 
and, in the yard, were stables and cows and 
horses. 

Well! ” said the Fisherman. Now we 
will live contented and happy here the rest 
of onr lives.” 

Perhaps we may,” replied his wife. But 
let us sleep over it; and see how it is in the 
morning.” So they went to bed. 


70 


MINNOWS 


ni. 

When Dame Alice awoke the next day, she 
jogged the Fisherman with her elbow and 
cried: 

‘‘ Husband, get up! bestir yourself! You 
must be king of all the land.’^ 

Wife, wife,’^ said the Fisherman, why 
should I wish to be a king*? I will not be a 
king.’^ 

Then I will,’’ said Alice. 

“ But, wife, how can you be a king? The 
Fish cannot make you a king.” 

Husband,” she said, say no more; but 
go ask the Fish. I will be king.” So the 
Fisherman went once more to the sea, griev- 
ing much over his wife. The waves were 
a dark gray and covered with foam. He stood 
on the edge, and cried again: 


THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE 71 


Oh, man of the sea! 

Come, listen to me, — 

For Alice, my wife. 

The plague of my life. 

Hath sent me to beg a boon of thee.’’ 

Well, what does she want now? ” asked 
the Fish. 

Alas! ” said the Fisherman. My wife 
wants to be a king.” 

Go home,” said the Fish. She is a king 
already.” 

Then the Fisherman went home. As he 
came close to the palace, he saw troops of 
soldiers, and heard the sound of drums and 
trumpets. When he went in, he saw his wife 
on a high throne. She had a gold crown on her 
head; and, on each side of her, stood six beau- 
tiful maids, each a head taller than the other. 


72 


MINNOWS 


Well, wife,’’ said the Fisherman, are 
you king? ” 

‘‘ Yes,” said she, I am king.” And, when 
he had looked at her a long time, he said: 

Ah, wife! what a fine thing it is to be 
king ! Now we shall never have anything more 
to wish for.” 


IV. 

I don’t know howthat may be,” said Alice. 
Never is a long time. I am king ’tis true; 
but I begin to be tired of it, and I think I 
should like to be an Emperor.” 

Alas, wife! why should you wish to be an 
Emperor? ” asked the Fisherman. 

Husband,” said she, go to the Fish. I 


say I will be an Emperor.” 


THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE 73 


Ah, wife! The Fish cannot make you an 
Emperor. I do not like to ask such a thing.’’ 

I am king,” said Alice. You are my 
slave. Go at once.” 

So the Fisherman must needs go. But he 
said to himself, as he went; 

This will come to no good. It is too much 
to ask. The Fish will be tired at last; and 
then we shall repent of what we have done.” 
He came to the sea. The water was black, 
and a great whirlwind blew over it; but he 
went to the edge of the shore, and cried: 

Oh, man of the sea! 

Come, listen to me, — 

For Alice, my wife. 

The plague of my life. 

Hath sent me to beg a boon of thee.” 


74 


MINNOWS 


Well, what does she want now? asked 
the Fish. 

“ Ah,’’ said he, ‘‘ she wants to be an Em- 
peror.” 

Go home,” said the Fish, she is an Em- 
peror.” 

So he went home again. As he drew near, 
he saw his wife sitting on a very lofty throne, 
made of solid gold. She had a gold crown on 
her head, full two yards high; and, on each 
side of her, stood her guards in a row, each 
smaller than the other, from the tallest giant 
down to a wee dwarf, no bigger than her fin- 
ger. Before her stood princes, and dukes, and 
earls. The Fisherman went up to her, and 
said: 

Wife, are you an Emperor? ” 

Yes,” said she, I am an Emperor.” 


THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE 75 


V. 

Ah/’ said the man, as he gazed up at her, 
what a fine thing it is to be Emperor! ” 

Husband,” said she, why should we 
stop at Emperor? I will be Pope next.” 

Oh, wife! ” said he. How can you be 
Pope? There is but one Pope at a time in 
the world.” 

“ Husband,” said she, I will be Pope this 
very day.” 

But,” answered the husband, the Fish 
cannot make you Pope.” 

What nonsense! ” said she. If he can 
make me Emperor, he can make me Pope. Gro 
and try him.” 

So the Fisherman went. But when he came 
to the shore, the wind was raging and the sea 
was tossed up and down like boiling water. 


76 


MINNOWS 


In the middle of the sky there was a little blue. 
A storm was brewing. At this, the Fisherman 
was in terror; but he went to the edge of the 
shore, and said in a low voice: 

Oh, man of the sea! 

Come, listen to me, — 

For Alice, my wife. 

The plague of my life. 

Hath sent me to beg a boon of thee.’’ 

WeU, what does she want now? ” asked 
the Fish. 

Ah! ” said the Fisherman. She wants 
to be Pope.” 

‘‘ Go home. She is Pope.” 

Then the Fisherman went home to find his 
wife sitting on a throne that was two miles 
high. She had three great crowns on her head. 


THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE 77 


Around her was all the pomp and power of 
the church; and, on each side, were two rows 
of burning hghts of all sizes, — the greatest 
as large as the tallest tower in the world, and 
the least no bigger than a small rushlight. 

Wife,’’ said the Fisherman, as he looked 
at all this grandeur, are you Pope? ” 
Yes,” said she, I am Pope.” 

Well, wife,” replied he. It is a grand 
thing to be Pope; and now you must be con- 
tent, for you can be nothing greater.” 

‘‘ I will consider that,” said the wife. 


VI. 

They went to bed. But Dame Alice could 
not sleep all night, for thinking of what she 
would be next. At last morning came; and 
the sun rose. 


78 


MINNOWS 


Ha! ’’ thought she, as she looked at it 
through the window, ‘‘ cannot I prevent the 
sun from rising? At this she grew very 
angry, and she waked her husband, and said: 

Husband, go to the Fish and tell him I 
want to be Lord of the Sun and the Moon.’’ 

The Fisherman was half asleep; but the 
thought so scared him that he started, and fell 
out of his bed. 

‘‘ Alas, wife! ” said he. Cannot you be 
content to be Pope? ” 

No,” said she, I am very uneasy, and 
cannot bear to see the Sun and Moon rise 
without my leave. Go at once to the Fish.” 

Then the man went, quaking with fear. As 
he drew near the shore, a great storm arose, 
so that the trees and the rocks shook and the 
sky became black. The lightning flashed; the 
thunder rolled; the sea was one mass of black 


THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE 79 


waves with a white crown of foam. The Fish- 
erman whispered: 

Oh, man of the sea! 

Come, listen to me, — 

For Alice, my wife. 

The plague of my life. 

Hath sent me to beg a boon of thee.’’ 

What does she want? ” 

Ah! ” said the Fisherman. She wants 
to be Lord of the Sun and Moon.” 

Go home,” said the Fish, to your ditch 
again.” And there they live to this very day. 


ALL ABOUT THE MINNOWS 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FIELD LESSONS 

Body: stout and short. 

Head: large and rounded. 

Snout: blunt. 

Mouth: large. 

Scales: large. 

Colour (hornyhead): olive blue above; 
green on sides, with tinge of gold; pale under 
body. In the spring the male has spots of red 
on each side of his head, and a rosy tint under 
the body. 

There are over a thousand varieties found in 
all parts of the country. 


80 


THE EEL 









THE EEL 


A STEANGE SORT OF FISH 

Oh! ” cried Phyllis. ‘‘ Oh, please! Oh! 
what shall I do? Ugh! ’’ 

What is the matter? asked Jack, hound- 
ing through the bushes. 

Oh, I Ve caught a snake ! Can you get him 
off the hook? 

Jack looked at the end of Phyllis’s line; 
and then he laughed, and began to haul in the 
wriggling, shining thing. 

Do be careful,” begged Phyllis. 

It’s not a snake,” said Jack. 

It looks to me very much like one,” 
Phyllis replied. 


84 


THE EEL 


Not when yon get a good look at it/’ said 
Jack. It’s an eel. I’ve caught lots of them. 
They are very common in our lakes and 
ponds.” 

What are they good for? ” asked Phyllis. 
‘‘ Why, child,”— and Jack tried to look very 
old and wise,— why, child, they are good to 
eat.” 

Ugh! I don’t want to eat it! Throw it 
back! Where did it come from, anyway? ” 

It came from the sea,” said Jack. 

‘‘ iWhy, Brother,” said Phyllis, you are 
only fooling. The sea is hundreds of miles 
away from here. We are in the mountains, 
not at the beach.” 

No matter where the eel is found, you may 
be sure that he was born in the sea. They 
are found many miles from the sea, to be sure. 
Some are found at the very head of the Missis- 


A STRANGE SORT OF FISH 85 


sippi River. They are found in pools and 
mountain lakes where it seems impossible that 
they could come. But it is quite certain that, 
in some way, they manage to ascend the moim- 
tain streams for many, many miles. 

^ ^ They usually travel by night. I have read, 
somewhere, that, on spring or summer nights, 
when the young eels are travelling up-stream, 
one may see thousands of them at the foot of 
Niagara Falls. They squirm and crawl over 
the slippery rocks. 

But do some eels live in the sea? asked 
Phyllis. 

No, eels do not even make their houses in 
the oceans. They are truly fresh-water fishes. 
But, just as the salmon seek fresh water in 
which to lay their eggs, the eels seek salt 
water. 

He seeks the salt water only at spawning- 


86 


THE EEL 


time, wMcli is in the fall. At that time the 
mother and father eels may be seen swimming 
down-stream toward the ocean. 

They do not usually go far from the river- 
mouth; but, on the mud-banks near by, they 
carefully place their eggs, and leave them to 
hatch. 

Just as the parent salmon do not live to 
enter the ocean again, so the parent eels never 
again reach their fresh-water homes. They 
die very soon after their eggs are safely placed 
in the mud-banks. 

<< Three months after they are hatched, the 
young eels are fully developed; but they do 
not at once start for fresh water. It is gen- 
erally believed that it is at the beginning of 
their second spring that the young eels go 
up-stream. 

There they in turn live until they are full- 


A STRANGE SORT OF FISH 87 


grown, and feel Mother Nature calling them 
again to the sea. During the seaward trip, 
the eels take no food, and travel almost wholly 
by night. ’ 

A mother eel has a remarkable number of 
babies. Often one eel lays as many as ten 
million eggs.’’ 

What do eels eat? ” 

“ They eat all sorts of refuse from the 
water. They like dead fish best. The fisher- 
men sometimes find their nets half-emptied 
by the hungry eels.” 

I wish I had looked at him more closely 
before you threw him into the water,” said 
Phyllis. 

Well, his body is so long and thin that 
I do not wonder you thought him a snake,” 
replied Jack. They are usually four or five 


88 


THE EEL 


feet in length, ffis colour, too, might make 
you think so, for he is a yellowish brown. 

He has scales, too; but they are so deeply 
imbedded in his skin that you would hardly 
think of them as scales.’’ 

‘‘ Well,” Phyllis remarked, as she again 
threw in her line, I don’t care to catch an- 
other eel. They are not pretty.” 

“ The Indians like to catch eels,” laughed 
Jack. ‘‘ When the young Indian braves play 
ball, they rub themselves well with eelskin, 
believing that it will make them as slippery 
and hard to hold as an eel. 

When the Indian maidens braid their 
long black hair, they tie it with a piece of eel- 
skin to make it grow.” 

I’d prefer a pink bow for my hair, thank 
you,” said Phyllis, wrinkling up her little 
nose. 


HOW THE EEL LOST HIS COAT OF 
EUR 


Once, in the ages long, long ago, the animals 
of all the world met under a huge tree in the 
forest. 

Now, in those days, even as to-day, the 
animals were of different sizes, and wore 
coats of various colours and patterns. 

Some of the animals had long fur, and 
some had short. Some had tails with rings. 
Some had tails with white tips. Some tails 
were long, and some were short. Some were 
bushy, and some were smooth. 

Some coats were brown, some black, some 
yellow. Some coats were spotted, some 
striped, some plain. 


90 


THE EEL 


Without a doubt some coats were more 
beautiful than others; and about this it was 
that the animals disputed as they met — just 
as they had disputed for ages and ages, when 
they had chanced to come together. 

‘‘ Come, come! ” hooted the owl, in the tree 
above them. Why not settle all this quar- 
relling and disputing? Why not hold a coun- 
cil, and decide which animal carries the most 
beautiful coat! ’’ 

To the animals this seemed a good plan. 

The owl is always wise,’^ said they. 

We will do as he says. It will be best to 
stop this quarrelling and disputing among 
ourselves.’’ 

We are now all present,” began one of 
the larger animals. 

No, no,” piped out one of the little ani- 
mals. The eel is not here. The eel wears 


HOW THE EEL LOST HIS COAT 91 


the most beautiful coat in the world. It is 
as fine as silk, and shines like gold in the 
sun.’’ 

<< Why, then, is he not here? ” demanded 
one. 

The eel is quiet and modest, and rarely 
appears,” was the answer. He spends his 
entire time in the water of the little creek, 
which fiows into the headwaters of the great 
river. Because he lives so far away, he sel- 
dom sees other animals. Very rarely do we 
catch a gleam of his golden coat.” 

It is but fair that he should be here at 
the council! ” hooted the owl. 

You are quite right,” said a larger ani- 
mal. He must be sent for.” 

He shall be sent for! ” howled the wolf. 

I myself have swift runners among my 
children. One of them shall go for the eel.” 


92 


THE EEL 


Now the rabbit had sat very quietly by, 
nibbling daintily a grass leaf; and you could 
scarce have known that he was listening, had 
you not watched the pricking up of his long 
ears now and again. 

Above all things in the world, the rabbit 
wished that the council should decide that 
his coat was the most beautiful. But he had 
once seen the eeTs beautiful golden coat, and 
he was quite sure it was more beautiful than 
any other. 

The rabbit thoughtfully chewed the grass 
leaf, and planned a way by which he might 
cheat the eel out of his coat. 

He needs no coat,’’ said the rabbit, liv- 
ing as he does alone in the water. I will 
have it.” 

As he pondered he finally hit upon a plan. 
Then he hopped directly up to the place where 


HOW THE EEL LOST HIS COAT 93 

the large animals stood, and begged that he 
might be allowed to go for the eel. 

“ Yon? ’’ cried the animals, looking down at 
the little rabbit, with its big, twitching ears. 

I know the shortest road to the stream 
where the eel lives,’’ said the rabbit. I am 
able to travel through briars and underbrush 
where no other animal could go. Besides, I 
know the eel.” 

After much talk, it was decided that the 
rabbit be allowed to go and bring the eel to 
the council. He set out at once. 

It was four long days before the rabbit 
came to the stream where the eel lived. He 
then searched for hours before he found him; 
for the eel was napping at the bottom of the 
stream, under some rocks. At last, however, 
he rose to the surface. 

In those days eels were as big as rabbits; 


94 


THE EEL 


and they wore coats of a most exquisite golden 
hue. Its hair was finer than the finest silk, 
and glistened in the sunlight. When the rab- 
bit saw the coat, his heart bounded with 
pleasure; for he knew that at last he had 
found the animal which he sought. 

‘‘ Did you call? ’’ asked the eel, gently. 

The rabbit told his errand, and said they 
must set out at once, for there was no time to 
spare. 

I am not a great traveller,’’ said the eel. 

I shall be glad to act as guide and com- 
panion,” said the rabbit. 

You are more than kind,” said the eel, 
as they started out. I live so much alone, 
and make so few journeys, I would surely lose 
my way if I had to go by myself.” 

Indeed, it was a pleasure to come,” said 
the rabbit, twitching his long ears carelessly. 


HOW THE EEL LOST HIS COAT 95 


I asked for the honour of bringing you. I 
am quite used to travel. If you will follow 
my advice, all will be well with you; and we 
will reach the council-tree by the shortest pos- 
sible trail.’’ 

I will do exactly as you teU me,” said the 
eel, his soft, golden coat gleaming and glisten- 
ing in the sunshine. 

It is well,” said the rabbit, gravely. 

All day long they travelled toward the tree 
where the animals waited in council. 

When the sunset shadows fell, the rabbit 
selected a pleasant camping-ground. He cut 
rushes for a bed. He built a camp-fire. He 
prepared the food. He put everything in 
good shape for the night. 

It is quite easy to see that you are a trav- 
eller of experience,” said the eel, admiringly, 
as they sat at supper. 


96 


THE EEL 


Oh, yes; I have spent my whole life in 
travel,’^ answered the rabbit, as he nibbled 
away at his salad. ‘‘ Indeed, as I said 
before, I am quite used to the ways of the 
world. 

The next morning, having rested well all 
night, the two travellers journeyed on. They 
talked and laughed and chattered as they 
walked. Sometimes they rested for a moment 
in the shade. Again, they drank together 
from a cool brook. 

When the sun began to slip down the west- 
ern sky, and the afternoon shadows length- 
ened, the eel noticed that the rabbit began 
to gather up bits of bark and dry grasses and 
leaves. 

I am just gathering fuel for the camp- 
fire,” explained the rabbit, when he saw the 
eel watching him. It is best to pick it up 


HOW THE EEL LOST HIS COAT 97 


as we see it. We may camp where there is 
little dry wood.’’ 

The least I can do to repay your kindness 
is to help you,” said the eel. Allow me to 
carry the fuel which you gather.” 

So on the eel’s back the rabbit strapped a 
load of sticks and bark; and he smiled, as he 
turned to gather up more. 

“ How comfortable we shall be to-night,” 
said the eel, peering out from under the load 
of sticks. 

What elegant coals these sticks will 
make,” said the rabbit. ‘‘ I trust that you 
will sleep well.” 

Near sunset they stopped and prepared 
camp. Supper over, the rabbit got a stick; 
and, sitting down by the fire, began to whit- 
tle. As the eel watched he saw that the rabbit 
was making a paddle. 


98 


THE EEL 


Wliy do you whittle a paddle? ’’ asked 
the eel. 

I fancy that I have better dreams if I sleep 
with a paddle under my head/’ said the rab- 
bit, not looking up from his whittling. 

When the paddle was finished, the rabbit 
began to clear away the bushes and grasses. 
At first the eel thought he was preparing the 
bed for the night; but, presently, he saw that 
the rabbit was cutting a narrow path down to 
the river. 

Why do you cut a path down to the 
river? ” the eel asked. 

This place is called ^ Di tat laski yi,’ ” 
said the rabbit. 

That means ^ The place where it rains 
fire,’ ” said the eel, in alarm. 

The rabbit nodded. 

Sometimes fire rains down here just as 


HOW THE EEL LOST HIS COAT 99 


raindrops fall in other places.’’ The rabbit 
looked wisely toward the sky. 

The eel looked anxiously in the same direc- 
tion. There in the west, where the sun had 
but lately set, was a long bank of glowing red 
cloud. The rabbit shook his head solemnly. 

It looks as though it might rain fire to- 
night,” he said, gravely. 

Indeed, I think it looks very much like 
it,” gasped the eel, afraid. 

You need have no fear,” said the rabbit. 
‘‘ As you see, I have made everything ready. 
You must go to sleep, else you will not be 
able to travel to-morrow. It would be a shame 
to arrive too late. 

I will stay awake,” the rabbit continued. 
It does not tire me to lose sleep. I will 
watch. If you hear me shout, you must spring 
up; and, without waiting for anything, rush 


L.cFC. 


100 


THE EEL 


down the path I have cut, and plunge into the 
river/ ^ 

To this the other agreed. 

Better hang your beautiful coat on that 
branch over there where the leaves are thick,’’ 
said the rabbit. It would be a pity to have 
anything so lovely spoiled. It will be quite 
safe there, under the leaves.” 

Again the other did as he was told; and the 
two animals lay down to rest. The rabbit re- 
mained awake, but the eel was soon fast 
asleep. 

By and by the camp-fire burned down to a 
fine bed of red coals. It was for this that the 
rabbit was waiting. He sprang up softly; 
seized the paddle which he had whittled; and, 
flinging the coals high into the air, shouted to 
the eel. 

Now the eel was very weary from the day’s 


HOW THE EEL LOST HIS COAT 101 


travel, and slept soundly. He did not stir 
when the rabbit shouted; but, when the live 
coals touched him, he sprang up wildly in 
fright. 

To the river! To the river! ’’ shouted the 
rabbit. It’s raining fire! It’s raining fire! 
To the water! ” 

The dazed eel fied to the river and dived 
into the water. The rabbit, laughing, gath- 
ered up the golden coat, and slid ofi through 
the bushes and the darkness. Never again 
did the eel see his coat; and, even to this day, 
does every eel, little and big, go coatless 
through the water; even as this first eel fied 
coatless to his home stream far up the head- 
waters of the river. 

Meanwhile the animals in council waited 
impatiently to see what manner of animal this 
eel might be. Now it happened that the eel’s 


102 


THE EEL 


coat fitted the rabbit very well; and, when 
the animals saw the rabbit approaching, they 
believed it to be this strange creature, the eel. 

“ Ah, he comes! He comes! ’’ said the ani- 
mals to each other. ‘‘ See how his beautiful 
coat glistens like gold in the sunlight.’’ 

The smaller animals were sent out with 
greetings that the stranger might feel that he 
was welcome. They led him into their midst, 
and looked with envy at the golden coat. 

Then they began to look at each other and 
smile and wonder; for the stranger stood be- 
fore them with trembling legs and covered 
eyes. 

<< Why does he not look up and speak? ” 
hooted the owl. 

Is it eel fashion to hang his head so that 
one may not see his face? ” howled the wolf. 

Do not be frightened,” said the gentle 


HOW THE EEL LOST HIS COAT 103 


antelope. We can see at once that your coat 
is more beautiful than that of any other ani- 
mal.’’ 

I was vain, and thought my coat most 
beautiful,” said the wild horse; but, since 
I have seen yours, I am quite willing to give 
you the honour.” 

Still the stranger did not look up and show 
his face. 

Come, come, come! ” said the great bear, 
not unkindly. Do you not see that we have 
honoured you? Why, then, do you fear us? 
We would be friends. Come, lift your head! ” 
Still in kindly fashion, the great bear lifted 
the head and beheld — the face of the rab- 
bit! 

The rabbit’s split nose trembled with fear 
as the bear seized him and shook him out of 
the stolen coat. He gave a great bound, how- 


104 


THE EEL 


ever, and escaped; but not before the fox 
sprang up and bit off Ms tail. 

And you now know, little boys and girls, 
the reason why the rabbits go tailless and the 
eels go coatless through life. 


ALL ABOUT THE EEL 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FIELD LESSONS 

Body: long, slender, and snakelike. From 
two to five feet in length. 

Head: long and narrow. 

Eyes: small. 

Colour: brown or yellowish green; paler 
underneath. 

They spawn in the sea; but live in fresh 
water. Their eggs are laid in mud-banks near 
mouths of rivers. Both parents die after the 
spawning period. 

Young eels are fully developed in about 
three months after they are hatched, but do 
not leave salt water until the second spring. 

105 



















THE LIZARD 




“ pHYLLIS ... sat 
* on the great 
rock ” 




THE LIZARD 

WHEEE PHYLLIS WADED 

Phyllis slipped off shoes and stockings, 
tucked up her skirts, and sat on the great 
rock, splashing her toes in the water, and sing- 
ing softly to herself. 

By and by, as the water was shallow and 
delightfully waim, she slipped off the rock, 
and began wading about. 

Suddenly a little creature swam through the 
water at her feet. She stooped and caught 
it in her two hands. 

Well, you are funny, said Phyllis, look- 

109 


110 


THE LIZARD 


ing at it. Do you mind being out of the 
water? ” 

Oh, no, not for a little while, answered 
the little creature. I do not like to stay out 
of water for a very long time, but I often crawl 
out for a few minutes.’’ 

My name is Phyllis,” said the little girl, 
bowing her head gravely. 

My name is Lizard,” said the little crea- 
ture, waving his tail solemnly. 

I am very glad to know you, Lizard,” 
said Phyllis. You don’t seem to look much 
like the other water beasties I have met.” 

I am one of the brook-babies, neverthe- 
less,” said the lizard. 

I see that you have gills,” said Phyllis. 

That always means a water-baby.” 

Yes, I have three pairs of gills,” said the 
lizard; but I have no fins. I can swim about 


WHERE PHYLLIS WADED 111 


as well as a fish; and I can walk on my four 
legs as well as any animal. Notice how my 
fore feet have only four toes each, while my 
hind feet have five toes each.^^ 

Your face looks like a frog’s face, except 
that it is much smaller,” said Phyllis. Your 
coat seemed quite dark while it was wet; hut, 
now that it is drying, it is a yellowish brown 
on your back.” 

Do you notice my yellow vest? ” said the 
lizard. It is a bright yellow with tiny 
specks on it. My eyes are as dark as your 
own, Phyllis.” 

So they are,” said Phyllis; but some 
one told me that lizards had green eyes.” 

Oh, there are many kinds of water-lizards, 
Phyllis; and many more kinds of land-lizards. 
Some of them are great monsters. But will 
you kindly slip me back into the water now? 


112 


THE LIZARD 


My back is becoming uncomfortably dry. 
You know I do not like to stay out of the water 
long.’^ 

So Phyllis slipped her hands under the 
water and allowed the lizard to crawl off, and 
then she paddled away to tell her mother about 
her visit from the lizard. 

When I was a little girl,’^ said mamma, 
an old Indian woman came to our house, and 
saw a small water-lizard which I was keep- 
ing in a glass bowl. She became quite excited 
when she saw the lizard, and asked if she 
might have it. My mother asked what in the 
world she would do with a lizard if she had 
one. 

^ Oh! ’ said the old Indian woman, ^ I have 
a baby at home who is very cross and fret- 
ful. We Indians believe that, if a lizard is 
caught and gently rubbed on the head and the 


WHERE PHYLLIS WADED 113 


throat of a baby, it will never be fretful 
again.’ ” 

And what did you do, manuna? ” asked 
Phyllis. 

I gave it to her,” laughed mamma; but 
she never came back to tell me if her baby 
became sweet and smiling after being rubbed 
with the lizard.” 

‘‘ What queer things the Indians believe,” 
said Phyllis. 

Yes, they have several queer beliefs con- 
cerning lizards,” said mamma. They be- 
lieve that the Indian boy or girl who catches 
the first lizard he sees in the spring is very 
lucky. If, holding it between his fingers, he 
scratches his body and legs downward with 
the claws, no dangerous snake will bite him 
all summer.” 

I think I will go back, find my lizard, and 


114 


THE LIZAED 


try it/’ said Phyllis, splashing off into the 
water again. But the lizard wasn’t at home 
to callers when she splashed into his corner 
of the water. 


THE FIRST LIZARD 


In a little village of wigwams whicli stood 
amid tall pines and hemlocks lived an Indian 
boy and his little sister. 

This boy and girl were orphans. Both 
their father and mother had died during the 
moon of melting snows. Left thus alone, 
the braves of the village began to wonder 
among themselves what might be done for 
the orphan children. 

At length it was decided that the orphan 
girl should be taken into the wigwam of the 
chief of the tribe, and that the orphan boy 
should make his home in the wigwam of an- 
other Indian brave. 


115 


116 


THE LIZARD 


So it chanced that, one morning when the 
sun was shining fair upon the waters, the 
canoes of the great chief and the other Indian 
braves were beached upon the gravel in front 
of the wigwam while they made known their 
errand to the orphan children. 

But since the brother and sister had lived 
in this little wigwam at the farthest edge of 
the village all their lives, they cared neither 
to leave it nor each other. 

Nay,’’ said the boy, we pray you, great 
chief, rather to let us live alone as we have 
lived since the moon of melting snows. We 
would be happier so.” 

Oh, great chief! ” cried the Indian 
maiden, kneeling before him, ‘‘ do you not 
see how our hearts are bound to this spot, 
even as the skins of our wigwams are bound 
to the lodge poles? Leaving each other, oh! 


THE FIRST LIZARD 


117 


chief, joy would slip from our lives just as the 
shine slides off the waters when the sun sets. 
Give us, oh! great chief, give us our lives to- 
gether! ’’ 

But to whom will you go for venison and 
corn, and skins for clothes? asked the great 
chief. 

Then the Indian boy stood up before him 
slim and straight. 

‘‘ I will hunt the deer for his venison and 
the beaver for his fur. My traps and my ar- 
rows shall not fail.’’ 

The Indian girl rose up before him and 
tossed aside the black locks from her face be- 
fore she spoke. 

I,” said she, can plant and hoe and 
gather the com. I can cook the venison and 
the corn cakes over the fires of our own wig- 


118 


THE LIZAED 


warn. We pray you to let us remain to- 
gether! ’’ 

The chief and the other Indian braves, 
when they heard the pleadings of the children, 
and saw how, more than anything else, they 
desired each other, allowed them to have their 
wish. 

But remember,’’ said the chief, as his 
canoe shot out into the water on which the 
sunshine fell, remember that, on the days 
when your traps and your arrows fail you, 
as they fail every hunter at times; when the 
corn in your garden is scorched by the sun 
or washed out by the rains, then is the time 
when you are to come to us that we may share 
with you whatever we may have.” 

But the orphan boy and girl found no need 
to call upon the people of the village for help. 

The boy, as he grew older, became more and 


THE FIRST LIZARD 


119 


more successful at Ms hunting. He knew the 
haunts of the beaver, and his traps were never 
empty. On beaver meat the brother and sis- 
ter feasted each day. From beaver skins 
their clothes were made. Beaver skins made 
covers for their beds and curtains for their 
doorway. All went well with them, and they 
were happy and contented. 

One morning, the boy went as usual to his 
hunting; and the girl, left alone, set gaily 
about the tasks of the wigwam. When all 
was in order, and her hair was freshly combed 
and braided, she sat outside the door of the 
wigwam and wove a mat of rushes. As she 
worked she sang gaily to herself. 

Presently, from out the thick woods behind 
the wigwam, a stranger appeared. He was 
tall and powerful, and for a moment the girl 
was frightened. 


120 


THE LIZARD 


But the stranger spoke in a kindly manner, 
and inquired for her brother. The girl’s fears 
were calmed by the stranger’s manner, though 
for all that she did not tell him where her 
brother was. 

The stranger only remained for a few 
moments; and then in a twinkling vanished. 
He disappeared so quickly that the girl could 
not tell in what direction he went. 

When the brother returned, his sister told 
him of the stranger’s visit, and of the mys- 
terious way in which he had disappeared. 

Ah! ” said the brother. It is well that 
you had nothing to say to him. You know 
that spirits sometimes come in the form of 
men and women to the lodges of our people. 
These spirits do not seek to do us good. Have 
nothing to do with strangers who come to the 
lodge.” 


THE FIRST LIZARD 


121 


Again on the next day the brother set out 
to the traps, after once more advising his 
sister to have nothing to do with strangers. 

Hardly had the boy gone out of sight, when 
the stranger suddenly appeared from the wood 
as he had the day before. The girl was sitting 
on a mat inside the wigwam combing her beau- 
tiful black hair. 

Where is your brother to-day'? ” asked 
he. The girl did not look nor answer. The 
stranger waited for a moment. Then van- 
ished into the air, and the girl did not know 
in what direction he went. 

When evening came, the brother returned 
as usual, bringing beaver skins. His sister 
welcomed him gladly; and, as she dressed the 
skins, told him of the stranger’s second 
visit. 

This must not go on,” said the boy. If 


122 


THE LIZAED 


he is a spirit of mischief he may harm you or 
me.’’ 

‘‘ But what can we do? ” asked the girl. 

Listen, to-morrow I will pretend to go to 
my traps. But really I will hide in that thicket 
of bushes. If the stranger appears I will see 
him.” 

In the morning, the sister sang quite cheer- 
fully as she went about her work; for, know- 
ing that her brother was near, she felt safe. 

Again the stranger appeared as suddenly 
as before. 

Where is your brother? ” he asked. 

The girl went on dressing the beaver skins, 
not even looking up. 

I saw footprints,” said the stranger. 

They were the prints of his moccasins.” 

The girl did not answer. 

Then the stranger flew into a great rage. 


THE FIRST LIZARD 


123 


He blew the ashes from the fire all about the 
wigwam. He trampled about on the fire, and 
the smoke nearly strangled the girl. She was 
too much frightened to move. She covered 
her head with a beaver skin and cried, won- 
dering why her brother did not appear. 

Now, early that morning, the boy had built 
a great bonfire just outside the doorway of 
the wigwam. He had cut a stick of wood as 
long as from his finger-tips to his elbow. This 
he had whittled into the shape of a paddle. 
He did not give any reason for doing this, 
and only shook his head when his sister ques- 
tioned him. 

The fire was now burned down to a fine bed 
of red coals; and, just as his sister was giv- 
ing up the hope that he would come, the 
brother rushed into the wigwam with a great 
paddle full of the glowing coals. He threw 


124 


THE LIZAED 


them full upon the stranger, striking him 
again and again with the live coals. 

The stranger ran out of the wigwam into 
the open air. Then the hot coals leaped into 
flame and burned higher and higher. He ran 
for the deep woods; but before he reached 
them the flame went out quite suddenly, and 
the stranger was gone. 

But, on the ground there scurried a small 
green lizard, which tried to slide away beneath 
the rocks. The boy caught it by the tail and 
carried it back to the wigwam. 

It was an evil spirit,’’ said he, laughing. 

Now it can do us no harm; for every Indian 
knows that a spirit loses its power for mis- 
chief if it is caught when changing from one 
form to another. Always hereafter shall we 
see these harmless little creatures scurrying 
about amid the stones and wet grasses.” 


ALL ABOUT THE WATER -LIZARD 


SUGGESTIONS FOR FIELD LESSONS 

Body: three or four inches long. Slender, 
long tail. 

Face: froglike in appearance; eyes bright 
and dark. 

Three pairs of gills, — yellowish in colour. 
(Not all varieties of water-lizards have gills.) 

Two pairs of legs. The front feet have four 
toes each, and the hind feet five. 

They differ as to colour; but, in general, 
are brownish above, and yellow underneath. 


125 





THE FROG 
















THE FROG 


THE EVENING CONCEET 

Listen to the frogs/’ said Jack. 

I think this must be a special night for 
their concert,” laughed Phyllis. 

Every night seems to be a special night,” 
said Jack. I never heard frogs make so 
much noise. 

The Indians used long ago to shout, dance, 
and beat their drums when they heard the 
croaking of the frogs. They wished to make 
as great a noise as possible to frighten away 
the frogs.” 

Why did they wish to drive them away, 
Jackie? Surely, frogs would hurt no one.” 

129 


130 


THE FROG 


Jack giggled. 

Well/’ lie said, it happened this way. 
Once, in the spring of the year, the Indians 
noticed that the frogs made more noise than 
usual. 

One old man declared that there was a 
great frog there with a mouth as wide across 
as an Indian hunter could reach with both 
arms. 

No one saw this great frog; but every 
one believed it to be there, leading the croak- 
ing chorus of frogs in the pond. 

Now, one day a most remarkable thing 
happened. In the morning the sun rose bright 
and beautiful as usual; but, before it was 
two hours high, it suddenly slipped out of 
sight, and left the earth in black darkness. 

When the darkness fell, the frogs set up 
a mighty croaking, and the frightened Indians 


THE EVENING CONCERT 131 


clutched each other’s blankets, and whis- 
pered. 

‘‘ ‘ 0 — a — yes,’ said the old man, ‘ I told 
you of the great frog, and you did not drive 
it away. Now it has swallowed the sun! We 
shall live in darkness hereafter! ’ 

Then the Indians seized their tom-toms, 
their drums, and their rattles; and, calling the 
medicine-men, they rushed to the pond. 

Such a din you never heard. They howled 
and shouted and made every sort of noise you 
can imagine, so that, in five minutes, every 
frog was silent, and the sun shone out again 
in its place. 

a i great frog has coughed up the sun! 
The great frog has coughed up the sun! ’ 
shouted the Indians in joy.” 

Pooh! ” said Phyllis. Hadn’t their 
mothers ever told them about the eclipse? ” 


132 


THE FROG 


‘‘ Let’s go down and see if we can see the 
frogs.” 

So, very quietly, in order not to disturb the 
concert, the children ran down to the swamp. 
It was just sunset; but it was twilight in the 
swamp, and the frogs’ concert was in full 
swing. 

The frogs sat about the edge of the water, 
their green and yellow heads raised, and their 
cheek-pouches puffed out. It is by means of 
cheek-pouches, or, in some frogs, drumlike 
plates in their throats, that the frogs are able 
to make the croaking sound. 

And, as they croaked their evening song, 
their great black gold-ringed eyes were very 
bright. Past the great bullfrog, which Phyllis 
had chosen as leader of the band, buzzed a 
beautiful, fat fly. He raised his head. Out 


THE EVENING CONCERT 133 


of his mouth shot a long, slender ribbon, and 
the fly was gone. 

What was that? ’’ gasped Phyllis. 

Sh-h! It was his tongue! ’’ whispered 
Jack. Progs have the queerest tongues. 
They are long and notched, and limber as a 
ribbon. They are covered with sticky stuff 
from which no insect can escape.’^ 

How queer — began Phyllis. 

Queer? ’’ laughed Jack. Well, just 
wait until I tell you the rest. This fimny 
tongue is fastened to the front end of the 
mouth. The hind part is free, and hangs down 
its owner ^s throat. When the frog wishes to 
catch a passing bug, out flies his long tongue. 
‘ Buzz,’ goes the fly. In an instant it is 
slapped right down the big throat, and there 
sits froggie, looking as calm and contented as 
can be.” 


134 


THE FROG 


He has no scales/’ said Phyllis, looking 
at the big frog as Jack turned in an opposite 
direction. 

Scales? ” cried the great frog, turning 
his big eyes upon her. Do you think I am 
a fish? ” 

‘‘ No-oo,” said Phyllis, meekly. 

Look at my coat,” said the frog, puffing 
out his throat, and opening and closing his 
mouth. 

“ Yes,” said Phyllis, ‘‘it is beautiful. I 
like that bronze-green colour and those long 
stripes down the back. Let me see. There 
is one long stripe starting at the nose, and 
reaching the entire length of the back. I like 
those yellow markings also. Your vest is as 
silvery as the water when the sun shines on it. 
Your coat is as green as the lily-pads on which 
you love to sit, while the circles around your 


THE EVENING CONCERT 135 


eyes are as yellow as the heart of the water- 
lily, and your feet are as brown as — as the 
stems of the grasses.” 

The frog closed his mouth, and seemed to 
gasp for breath. 

Why do you keep opening and closing 
your mouth? ” asked Phyllis. 

How else could I breathe? ” asked the 
frog. I should die for want of air if I kept 
my mouth open all the time. I must close it 
whenever I take a breath.” 

How very strange! ” said Phyllis. 

I dare say it seems as strange to you as 
some of the things you do seem strange to 
us. My wife often tells me strange things 
she hears children say.” 

Is your wife helping with the music to- 
night? ” asked Phyllis. 

My wife! Sing!” The frog’s eyes almost 


136 


THE FROG 


popped out of Ms head, he was so amazed. 
<< Frog’s wives never come to the concerts, 
Phyllis. They cannot croak. They have no 
cheek-pouches.” 

What is she like? ” 

‘‘ She is very plain and quiet. One day, in 
among the grasses where the water was quiet, 
she laid a number of dark, round eggs, done 
up in a gluey case. They floated out on the 
water for all the world like a spoonful of jelly. 
In a month or so they hatched. And, Phyl- 
lis,” said the frog, winking solemnly, they 
weren’t frogs at all.” 

‘‘Not frogs?” cried Phyllis. “ How could 
frogs’ babies be anytMng but frogs? ” 

The frog shook his head. 

“ They were tadpoles,” said he; and then 
he croaked his loudest, for of course Phyllis 
knew that all the time. 


THE EVENING CONCERT 137 


“ As soon as they were hatched they began 
to swim, searching for something to eat. Oh! 
but they were queer-looking babies! They 
had great heads, long, flat tails, and no legs 
at all! 

By and by hind legs began to sprout out; 
and, a little later, the front ones came out. 
About this time we noticed that those great 
long tails were growing less. The tails did 
not drop off, you know, they just grew into 
the body. 

At last the tails were entirely gone. The 
coats were as fresh and green as my own. 
Their front legs were short and small, and 
their front feet had each four Angers. 

Their hind legs were big and strong, fitted 
for leaping and swimming. Their hind feet 
were webbed, and had five toes.’’ 

How glad you must have been when you 


138 


THE FROG 


found how much they were like you, after 
all! ’’ said Phyllis. 

My sons all have elegant voices,’’ said the 
frog, proudly. 

Like their father,” said Phyllis; and, 
blowing him a kiss from her finger-tips, she 
scampered to the cottage. 


THE HAEES AND THE FROGS 


The hares once got together, and agreed 
that they led a very hard life; that they were 
always being made afraid. Men chased them; 
and dogs and eagles. They had no peace; 
and it was better to die once for all, than to 
live in constant fright. 

So they all started for a pond to throw them- 
selves off a rock into the water, and end their 
wretched lives. 

Now some frogs were sitting around the 
edge of the pond, and heard the noise made 
by the hares as they came running. They were 
so frightened that they all jumped at once 
into the water. 


139 


140 


THE EEOG 


“ Hold on! ” cried one of the hares to his 
fellows. “ Do nothing rash. Do you not see 
that there are others more timid than we 
are? ” 


THE FROGS ASKED FOR A KING 


In old times, we read that the frogs lived 
in a free and easy way, each one as he pleased. 
But the elders among them did not like this, 
and begged J ove to send them a king. 

J ove thought them very foolish, and tossed 
a log into the middle of the pond. The frogs 
were scared out of their wits, and plunged at 
once into the deepest hole. By and by, they 
peeped out and saw that King Log was stock 
still. 

They began to grow bolder. Soon they 
laughed at King Log; then they jumped up 
and sat on the log. That was not a king, they 
said, so off they went to Jove, to ask him to 
give them a new king. 


141 


142 


THE FROG 


This time Jove gave them an eel; but the 
eel was stupid, and the frogs liked him no 
better. They sent a third time to Jove. 

At this Jove was angry, and sent them a 
king of another sort. For he sent them King 
Stork; and King Stork caught the frogs, one 
by one, and ate them, till there was not one 
left. 


THE FROG AND THE OX 


An ox, grazing in a swampy meadow, 
chanced to set his foot among a number of 
young frogs, and crushed nearly all to death. 
One that escaped ran off to his mother with 
the dreadful news. 

Oh, mother,’’ said he, it was a beast, 
such a big, four-footed beast, that did it! ” 
Big? ” said the old frog. How big? 
.Was it as big ” — and she puffed herself out 
— as big as this? ” 

Oh, a great deal bigger than that.” 

‘‘ Well, was it so big? ” and she swelled 
herself out yet more. 

Indeed, mother, but it was; and if you 


143 


144 


THE FROG 


were to burst yourself you would never reach 
half its size.’’ The old frog made one more 
trial, determined to be as big as the ox, and 
burst herself indeed. 


THE BOYS AND THE FROGS 

A company of idle boys were watching some 
frogs by the side of a pond, and as fast as any 
of the frogs lifted their heads the boys would 
pelt them down again with stones. 

Boys,’’ said one of the frogs, you forget 
that, though this may be fim for you, it is 
death to us.” 


145 


THE FEOG- PRINCE 


One fine evening, a young princess went into 
a wood and sat down beside a cool spring of 
water. She had a golden ball in her hand, and 
amused herself by tossing it into the air and 
catching it again as it fell. 

After a time, she threw it up so high that, 
when she stretched out her hand to catch it, 
the ball bounded away, and rolled along the 
ground till at last it fell into the spring. 

The princess looked into the spring after 
the ball; but it was very deep. It was so deep 
that she could not see the bottom of it. 

Then the princess began to wail and cry. 

Alas, alas! she cried. If I could only 
get my ball again, I would give all my fine 


146 


THE FROG -PRINCE 


147 


clothes and jewels. I would give everything 
I have in the world! ’’ 

As she was speaking a frog put his head out 
of the water. 

u Princess, why do you weep so bitterly? 
said the frog. 

Alas,’’ said she, what can a mere frog 
do to help me? ” 

I do not want your pearls, nor your jew- 
els, nor your fine clothes,” said the frog. 

But if you will love me, and let me live with 
you and eat from your little golden plate and 
sleep upon your little bed, I will bring you 
your ball again.” 

What nonsense,” thought the princess, 
this silly frog is talking! He can never get 
out of the well. Still, he may be able to get 
my ball for me; so I will promise what he 
asks.” 


148 


THE FROG 


Then the princess said to the frog: ,Well, 
if you will bring me my ball, I promise to do 
all you require/’ 

Then the frog put his head down and dived 
deep imder the water. After awhile, he came 
up again with the ball in his mouth, and threw 
it on the ground. 

As soon as the young princess saw her ball, 
she ran to pick it up; and was so overjoyed 
to have it in her hand again that she never 
thought of the frog, but ran home with it as 
fast as she could. 

Stay, princess,” the frog called after her, 

stay and take me with you as you prom- 
ised! ” But the princess did not stop to hear 
a word. 

The next day, just as the princess sat down 
to dinner, she heard a strange noise. Tap-tap, 
tap-tap, as if some one were coming up the 


THE FROG -PRINCE 


149 


marble staircase. Soon after something 
knocked gently at the door and said: 

Open the door, my princess dear, 

Open the door to thy true love here! 

And mind the words that thou and I said. 
By the fountain cool in the greenwood shade.’’ 

Then the princess ran to the door and 
opened it. There sat the frog, whom she had 
quite forgotten. 

The princess was terribly frightened; and, 
shutting the door as fast as she could, came 
back and sat down. The king, her father, 
asked what had frightened her. 

At the door stands the frog who lifted my 
ball from the spring yesterday,” said she. 

I promised him that he might live here with 
me; but I thought that he could never get out 


150 THE FROG 

of the spring. Yet there he is at the door, and 
he wants to come in! 

While she was speaking, the frog knocked 
at the door, and said: 

Open the door, my princess dear. 

Open the door to thy true love here ! 

And mind the words that thou and I said. 

By the fountain cool in the greenwood shade.’’ 

‘‘You have made the promise,” said the 
king to his daughter, “ and so you must keep 
it. Go, now, and let the frog in! ” 

The princess opened the door and the frog 
hopped into the room. He came up close to 
the table. 

“ Pray lift me upon a chair,” said he to the 
princess, “ and allow me to sit next to you.” 

As soon as she had done this, the frog said: 


THE FROG -PRINCE 


151 


Put your plate closer to me, that I may eat 
out of it/’ 

This, too, she did. When he had eaten as 
much as he could, he said: Now I am tired. 
Carry me up-stairs and put me into your little 
bed.” 

And the princess took the frog in her hand, 
and put him upon the pillow of her own little 
bed. There he slept all night long. As soon 
as it was light he jumped up, hopped down- 
stairs, and went out of the house. 

Now he is gone,” thought the princess. 

I shall be troubled with him no more.” 

But in this the princess was mistaken. 
When night came again she heard some one 
tapping at the door. When she opened it the 
frog came in and slept upon her pillow as be- 
fore until morning broke. 

On the third night he did the same; but, 


152 


THE FROa 


when the princess awoke on the following 
morning, she was astonished to see, instead 
of a frog, a handsome young prince standing 
at the head of her bed. He was gazing on 
her with the most beautiful eyes that ever 
were seen. 

He told her that a wicked fairy had woven 
an enchantment about him. She had changed 
him into the form of a frog. 

In this form he was fated to remain until 
some princess should take him out of the 
spring and allow him to sleep upon her bed 
for three nights. 

You have broken this cruel charm, said 
the prince. Now I have no other wish save 
that you go with me to my father’s kingdom. 
There I will marry you and love you as long 
as you live.” 

As he spoke up drove a splendid carriage 


THE FROG -PRINCE 


153 


with eight beautiful horses decked with 
plumes of feathers and golden harness. Be- 
hind rode the prince’s servant, who had long 
bewailed the misfortune of his dear master. 

Full of joy they set out for the prince’s 
kingdom. There they arrived safely, and lived 
happily for many, many years. 


WHY THE FROG HAS NO TAIL 


Again the Indians were in trouble. They 
had fish and fiesh in plenty for food. But they 
had no fire with which to cook it. 

Again they went to the coyote in their trou- 
ble, for they had now come to depend upon his 
cunning. 

The Indians told the coyote that the fire 
was kept hidden in a basket. This basket was 
given into the care of two sleepless old hags 
who lived near the rising sun. 

The coyote listened thoughtfully. Then he 
promised to do his utmost to win this wish 
for the Indians. 

He slowly rose from his den, and trotted 
off across the wide prairies. The Indians 


154 


WHY THE FROG HAS NO TAIL 155 


watched him trotting straight toward the ris- 
ing sun. He neither hurried nor halted. But 
with that steady, ceaseless trot he journeyed 
confidently onward until he was out of sight. 

The watching Indians turned to each other 
with a breath of relief. They believed that 
the coyote would bring the fire. 

After several days the coyote returned 
without the fire. But in his mind he had 
formed a plan to secure it. 

He had been to the hut of the old women, 
and now knew every inch of the way. But, so 
watchful and quick were these guardians of 
the fire, that, alone, the coyote could not 
get it. 

Along the path leading to the hut the coyote 
now stationed beasts. The strongest and best 
runners he put near the hut. The weaker ones 
he put farther off. 


156 


THE FROG 


Near the door of the hut he placed a strong 
Karok Indian, with sinews like iron. At the 
end of the line of beasts sat the frog, who was 
not much of a runner. 

Then the coyote walked up and knocked at 
the door of the hut. The old hags, not fearing 
him, allowed him to enter. 

He lay all night on their hearth, and pre- 
tended to sleep. But, all the time he lay there, 
the coyote was watching and sleeping. 

At last, when the old hags were not watch- 
ing, the coyote sprang to the window and gave 
a signal to those waiting outside. 

In an instant the Indian was hammering 
on the door. Every animal along the hne took 
up the cry of fire. Each shouted after his own 
fashion. You may be sure there was a dread- 
ful din. 

The old women were nearly frightened to 


WHY THE FROG HAS NO TAIL 157 


death. They forgot all about the coyote, and 
sprang to the door to hold it shut. 

At this the coyote seized the burning brand 
of fire, and leaped through the window. He 
was off in an instant. 

The old women saw him, and rushed after 
him. As fast as the wind they raced. 

But, quick as was the coyote, the old women 
were quicker and more tireless. 

They were almost upon him. Soon the race 
must end, for the coyote was quite breathless, 
and the old women were near. 

Just in time he reached the first in the line 
of animals. It was the mountain-lion, who 
seized the burning brand and went leaping 
onward. 

From one animal to another it passed in 
safety. The brand burned shorter and shorter. 
The old women ran faster and faster. 


158 


THE FROG 


When the fire came to the frog it was but 
a tiny spark. The old women were upon his 
very heels. 

He caught the spark in his mouth, swal- 
lowed it, and dived deep into the pool where 
the old women might not follow. 

But, as he dived, one old woman caught the 
frog’s tail. When she looked down she found 
she held, not the frog, but only his tail in her 
hand. 

On the other side of the deep pool the tail- 
less frog came out. He sat down on a log of 
driftwood. He spat the fire into the log. 

This is the reason that, to this day, when 
an Indian rubs two sticks of wood together, 
the fire comes forth. 

Since the day of that race frogs have not 
worn tails; and their voices have become 
hoarse and harsh and croaking. 


WHY THE FROG HAS NO TAIL 159 

When you hear Mr. Frog singing hoarsely 
to his children, — his tadpole children who 
still wear long tails, — will you remember the 
frog’s story and love him? 


ALL ABOUT THE FROG 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FIELD LESSONS 

Colour: green, striped and marked with 
yellow; white underneath; feet brown, and 
protected by colour corresponding to sur- 
roundings. 

Eyes: big, black, and encircled in yellow 
rings. 

Mouth: large. 

Tongue: long and slender, ribbonlike, cov- 
ered with sticky fluid. It is fastened to the 
front of the mouth, and the loose end hangs 
down the throat. The free end is forked. 

Fore legs: small and weak, and have four 

toes each. Hind legs: large and strong; fltted 

160 


ALL ABOUT THE FROG 161 


for leaping and swimming. Five webbed toes 
on each hind foot. 

Eggs: small, dark, round. They are left to 
float about in a gluey case until hatched. 

Polly wogs: large head, long tail; no legs. 
Later, hind legs sprout out, and the tail begins 
to grow less. Then the front legs start, and 
the tail gradually disappears. 


-THE TOAD 






























THE TOAD 


THE FEOG’S QUIET COUSIN 

Under a great burdock-leaf sat a toad, work- 
ing very industriously; and, in tbe path be- 
side the burdock, stood Phyllis, watching. 

Do you eat like that all the time? ’’ asked 
Phyllis, after she had watched it devour ten 
flies. 

The toad drew down over his eyes a deli- 
cately thin film. 

I declare, he has gone to sleep! ’’ said 
Phyllis. I shall have to waken him! ’’ Then, 
with a stick, she gave Mr. Toad a punch. 

He hopped in the most sudden and startling 


166 


166 


THE TOAD 


manner. Phyllis, in her excitement, hopped 
almost as high. The toad now sat in the 
path directly in front of her, and its eyes were 
wide open. His keen black eyes seemed to 
have a glow of crimson in them. 

‘‘ That is the reason that folk say you have 
a jewel in your head,’’ said Phyllis. “ Why 
did you go to sleep when I spoke to you? ” 

I was not asleep,” said the toad. I only 
closed one pair of my eyelids.” 

One pair? How many pairs of eyelids has 
one toad? ” 

“ Three,” said the toad. The third pair, 
which I was using, was only the thinnest 
film.” 

Do you eat all the time,” asked Phyllis; 

and is your tongue like the frog’s? ” 

I eat nearly all day long,” replied the 
toad, and my tongue is just like the frog’s. 


THE FROG^S QUIET COUSIN 167 

except that it is not forked at the end like 
his. Men call me useful because I eat so many 
insects. They sometimes catch us and carry 
us to their gardens. We do no harm there; 
and we eat many troublesome insects.’’ 

Do you help at your cousin’s concerts? ” 
asked Phyllis. 

No. Oh, no. Toads are quiet creatures. 
There are toads which croak and make their 
own music; but the common toad does not 
make a sound.” 

You look quite like the frog,” said Phyl- 
lis. 

Well, I am not nearly so handsome as he. 
My colours are not so bright; my hind legs 
are not so long. I am heavier, and slower in 
movement. My skin is rough and warty, 
where his is smooth and beautiful. 

Do you know, Phyllis, that some silly chil- 


168 


THE TOAD 


dren believe that if they touch me they will 
have warts like mine come on their hands. 
That is nonsense. Don’t you ever believe any- 
thing of the kind.” 

But, after all, you are like the frog.” 

‘‘ Oh, yes, in general we look alike and act 
alike. Our eggs are laid in the water; and 
from them come pollywogs. Toad-pollywogs 
are smaller, darker, and livelier than those 
of the frog. 

‘‘ But by and by the toad-pollywog changes 
to a tiny little toad which hops out into the 
grass to grow up; just as, from the frog-poUy- 
wog, comes a perfect little frog which splashes 
about in and out of the water as it grows.” 

You do not care for the water? ” asked 
Phyllis. 

The toad blinked slowly. 

Not since I was a baby,” said he. 


THE FEOG’S QUIET COUSIN 169 

Just then the toad began to twist and 
twitch, and his skin began to wrinkle and fold 
along his sides. 

Excuse me, Phyllis, if I change my 
clothes,’’ said he; and he tucked a hind leg 
under a fore arm, and pulled one leg out of 
his skin. Phyllis watched, amazed. Then, 
with the other hind leg, he pulled the other 
fore leg free. It was not long until he was 
out of that skin, and sat there, in a brand new 
coat, blinking solemnly at Phyllis. 

^CWell, well,” began PhyUis, — but she 
stopped, for just then the toad turned to his 
old coat, rolled it up in a ball, and swallowed 
it. 

Frogs change their clothes in the same 
way,” said the toad, catching a fly on the tip 
of his tongue, and throwing it down his throat 
as he spoke. 


170 


THE TOAD 


It seems a very strange way of doing/’ 
said Phyllis. But tell me, what do you do 
during the winter? There are neither bugs 
nor flies for you then.” 

‘‘ During the winter I creep into the mud, 
or some crack between the rocks, and go to 
sleep. I cannot live wholly without air, but 
I can live with a very little.” 

I wish you would come home with me, and 
live in my garden,” said Phyllis. 

I may come sometime,” said the toad. 

We toads are great travellers. We have a 
wise way of eating during the day, and trav- 
elling during the night.” 

Do come,” said Phyllis. ‘‘ You would 
find de-li-cious bugs, I’m sure.” Then she 
stepped right over the toad and ran on down 
the path. 



“ ‘ I WISH you would 
■ come home with 
me ’ ” 





THE TOAD’S JEWEL 


The well was deep, and so the rope was long. 
The wheel went heavily around many times 
before one could lift the moss-grown bucket 
over the side of the well. 

The well was so deep that the sun could 
not see his face in the water, however brightly 
it shone. But, as deeply as it could shine, there 
were green weeds growing between the stones. 

Among these stones and weeds grew a 
family of toads. Their cousins, the frogs, were 
at home in the water just below. The frogs, 
with bright green coats and white satiny vests, 
looked in scorn upon the toads. They called 
them their poor relations,” and made fun 


171 


172 


THE TOAD 


of them for living on dry land, as they called 
the wet stones where the toads stayed. 

Moreover, there was another thing which 
caused pride to grow in the hearts of the 
green frogs. Madame Frog was a travelled 
frog lady. She never tired of boasting of her 
travels. 

Once,’’ she said, I hopped into that 
great bucket which comes splashing down here 
sometimes. I rode in the bucket all the way 
up. There was a great blaze of light which 
gave me such a spasm in the eyes. 

‘‘ I was terribly frightened. I could not 
see; but I jumped wildly from that hideous 
bucket. I fell with a frightful splash down 
into the water. 

I shall not soon forget about that journey. 
The return fall laid me up with backache for 
weeks and weeks.” 


THE TOAD^S JEWEL 


173 


Madame Frog did not tell much about the 
outside world. It was a great deal to know 
that there really was something outside the 
well. They had never guessed it before that 
eventful journey. 

Now Madame Toad might have told them 
much about the outside world had she chosen; 
for it was there that she lived through her 
youth. She selected the well when she was 
ready to bring up a family. 

Now the green frogs, as I said, were young 
and boastful and disagreeable. Sometimes 
they used to leap up to the stones where the 
toads lived, and croak and laugh at them. 

<< Ugly! Ugly! Ugly! croaked the young 
green frogs. 

Fat! Fat! Fat! ’’ croaked the young 
green frogs. 

That may be true,’’ said Madame Frog, 


174 


THE TOAD 


quietly; but one of these fat ugly toads 
wears a most precious jewel in its head, which 
makes it of more value than any of you! 

The green frogs listened and stared. Then 
they made faces at the young toads, and dived 
head first to the bottom to tell the other frogs. 
But the young toads who listened became 
filled with pride. Each one of them thought 
he must have the jewel in his head, though 
none of them quite knew what a jewel was. 

It is something which is so splendid that 
I cannot describe it,’’ said Madame Toad; and 
not another word could she be induced to say 
about it. 

Well, I haven’t any jewel,” said the small- 
est toad, who was as ugly as he could be. 
‘‘ Why should I dream of having anything so 
splendid that it cannot be described? I shall 
not worry about the jewel. What I would 


THE TOAD’S JEWEL 


175 


like is to get to the top of this well and see 
what the world is like.” 

Better keep clear of the bucket,” said 
Madame Toad, when she saw the smallest, 
ugliest toad looking longingly after it. Bet- 
ter keei3 clear of the bucket. You are safer 
and happier here.” 

Quack! ” said the little ugly toad; and 
that meant, Oh, dear me! ” 

He did so wish to get to the top of the well 
and look out. He felt a yearning for the green 
things, and the live things which lived in the 
world above. 

So, next morning, he quietly slipped into 
the bucket which was going up. There a man, 
seeing the toad in the water, said: Oh, 

bother! ” and threw the water and the toad 
upon the ground. The toad drew a long breath. 

It is far pleasanter here than down in the 


176 


THE TOAD 


well/’ he said; and he crawled as fast as he 
could crawl, until he came out of the weeds 
into the full sunshine, and was powdered with 
fine dust and sand. 

Then he came to a ditch. The forget-me- 
not grew there and the meadowsweet: be- 
yond was a hedge of white thorn and elder 
bushes. Yonder fiew a butterfiy. The toad 
thought it was a fiower which had broken 
loose in order to look about the world. To 
the toad that seemed a very natural thing for 
a flower to do. 

By and by, he came to a field and a large 
pond with rushes around it; he took a look 
inside. 

It is too wet for you here, isn’t it? ” said 
the frogs; but you are quite welcome just 
the same.” 

The toad was invited to a concert that even- 


THE TOAD’S JEWEL 


177 


ing; and the voices reminded him of the frog 
voices in the home well. 

He saw the stars twinkle so large and so 
clear; the new moon shine; the sun rise higher 
and higher. 

But, now that the toad was out of the well, 
he began to long to go higher still. He looked 
up as high as he could. On the farmer’s roof 
sat a stork in his nest. He clattered and the 
mother stork clattered. 

The mother stork talked of Egypt; and of 
the water of the far-off Nile, and the beautiful 
mud to be found in that coimtry. 

‘‘Oh! I must go to Egypt! ” thought the 
little toad. “Oh! If the stork would but take 
me! Surely to get to Egypt would be better 
than to have the jewel in my head! ” 

At that very moment the stork came. He 
had seen the toad in the grass. He swooped 


178 


THE TOAD 


down, and not overtenderly took the little 
creature up in its bill. 

The stork’s bill pinched the little toad; the 
winds whistled about him; he was far from 
comfortable. But still he thought of Egypt; 
and his eyes glittered till it seemed as if a 
spark flew out of them. 

The toad was dead. But the spark out of 
his eyes? What became of that? 

A sunbeam took it up. A sunbeam bore 
away the jewel from the head of the toad. 
For the smallest, ugliest toad had the jewel 
in his head. Shall I tell you what the jewel 
really was? It was the longing to always go 
onward; ever to learn a new lesson; to go 
upward and ever upward. Watch, and per- 
haps you may And a toad, — or, more beauti- 
ful still, you may discover a little boy or a 
little girl with this same jewel in her head. 


ALL ABOUT THE TOADS 


SUGGESTIONS FOR FIELD LESSONS 

In general form, they closely resemble the 
frog. Their colours are duller; their skin 
rough and warty. Their hind legs are shorter 
and less fully webbed. 

Toads (except a few rare varieties) make 
no sound. Their tongue is the same as frogs’, 
except that it is not forked at end. 

Their food is all manner of live insects and 
worms. The toad is considered very useful 
in gardens as a destroyer of insects. 

Their eggs are set side by side in a trans- 
parent tube, and dropped to the bottom of the 
water. The young tadpoles are jet black; and 


179 


180 


THE TOAD 


very active. They develop after the same 
manner as young frogs. As soon as they are 
fully developed the tiny little toads hop out 
into the grasses in search of food. 



i 

I 




< ' 


r 


h • 



I 


I 


I 


I 

I- 




THE SNAIL 


- 1 ^ 





t 


THE SNAIL 


FKOM THE SNAIL’S FRONT DOOR 

Are you thinking of moving? ’’ Phyllis 
asked, with a little giggle of laughter. 

I am moving,’’ said the snail, putting out 
its foot very slowly. 

‘‘ I can scarcely see you move,” said Phyl- 
lis; and then she laughed again, and began to 
hum a little song to the snail. The song was 
something like this: 

Ye little snails, with slippery tails. 

That noiselessly travel, across the gravel.” 

What will you do when dinner-time 
comes? ” demanded Phyllis, stopping in 


183 


184 


THE SNAIL 


the midst of her song and sitting up 
straight. 

I shall eat.’' 

What? ” 

At this the snail stretched out his horns in 
mild surprise. There were two pairs of these 
horns. One pair was long and slender; and, 
on the tip of each, was a little eye. The other 
pair were shorter, and were called feelers.” 
The snail looked at Phyllis for fully a minute 
before he answered. 

‘‘ I shall scrape off and eat the juicy, soft 
leaves which happen to be near. I never go 
hungry. My tongue is covered with fine, sharp 
teeth. So, also, is my upper lip. With these 
teeth I can scrape off the parts of the leaf that 
I like best.” 

And you have but one foot,” said Phyllis. 

‘‘ It extends under the whole surface of my 


THE SNAIL FRONT DOOR 185 


body/’ said the snail. It is tough and hard; 
and at the bottom is a horny valve which just 
fits the door of my shell when I have drawn 
my body in. 

My foot is really quite wonderful/’ the 
snail went on. As I walk my foot throws 
out a kind of slippery shme which enables me 
to slide along quite easily.” 

Do you not get tired of always carrying 
your shell about? ” asked PhyUis. 

I know no other way,” said the snail. 

All my life I have carried my house on my 
back. When I was little I had a little shell. 
As I grew larger my shell grew to fit my body. 

If any harm comes to my shell, such as 
a crack or a piece broken off, it will grow up 
again. 

After all, Phyllis, it is a pretty good sort 
of a home for a snail; and, whenever I am 


186 


THE SNAIL 


tired, I just creep in and draw the door shut 
with my foot, and rest/’ 

What will you do when winter comes? ” 
‘‘ I shall draw myself far into my shell, and 
throw across the doorway a little glue which, 
when it hardens, makes me very snug and safe. 
Then I shall go to sleep. I shall not move nor 
even take a breath imtil the warmth strikes 
through my shell again.” 

And how about your children? Have 
snails babies? ” 

There are many different kinds of snails, 
and they care for their eggs in different ways. 
The pond-snails hang little bags of eggs to the 
grass-stems or stones, and leave them there 
to hatch. By and by, the upper half of the egg 
lifts, and the young snails slip out into the 
water. 

Land-snails lay white eggs in the earth; 


THE SNAIL FRONT DOOR 187 


and, by and by, the tiny babies bear their tiny 
houses about the garden. — But, listen! Phyl- 
lis, isn’t your mother calling? ” 

It’s time for lunch,” said Phyllis; and 
she ran away humming: — 

Ye little snails, with slippery tails. 

Who noiselessly travel, across the gravel.” 


THE SNAIL AND THE ROSE-TREE 


Around the garden ran a hedge of hazels; 
beyond this hedge lay fields and meadows 
wherein were cows and sheep; but, in the 
midst of the garden, stood a blooming rose- 
tree. Under the rose-tree lived a snail who 
had a good deal in his shell — namely, him- 
self. 

Wait till my time comes! ’’ he said. I 
shall do something more than produce roses, 
bear nuts, or give milk as do the rose-tree, the 
hazel-bush, and the cows.’^ 

‘‘ I shall expect a great deal of you,’^ said 
the rose-tree. May I ask when your time 
will come? 

I shall not be in haste, said the snail. 

188 


THE SNAIL AND THE ROSE-TREE 189 


You’re always in such a hurry! It is not 
best, I am certain.” 

.When the next year came, the snail lay al- 
most in the same spot in the sunshine, under 
the rose-tree, which once more bore buds that 
bloomed into roses, until the snow fell and the 
weather became raw and cold. Then the rose- 
tree bowed its head, and the snail crept into 
the ground. 

A new year began. The roses came out, 
and the snail came out also. 

You are an old rose-tree now,” said the 
snail. You must make haste and come to 
an end; for you have given to the world all 
that you can. 

It is now quite plain that you can never 
do aught but bear roses. You should produce 
something else. Soon now you will be nothing 
but a stick.” 


190 


THE SNAIL 


You alarm me! ’’ said the rose-tree. I 
have always bloomed in gladness, because I 
could not do anything else. The sun shone 
and warmed me. The air refreshed me. I 
drank the pure dew and the rain, and I lived. 

Out of the earth there arose a power 
within me to bear blossoms. I was obliged to 
bloom over and over again. That was my life. 
I could not do otherwise.’’ 

You have led a pleasant life,” said the 
snail. 

Ah! yes,” replied the rose-tree, I have 
given freely of what I had to give to those who 
cared.” 

That I shall never do,” said the snail. 

The world is nothing to me. I shall live for 
myself; not to give pleasure to others.” 

Ah,” said the rose-tree, '' I could not live 
for myself. My life is to give to others. I 


THE SNAIL AND THE ROSE-TREE 191 


shall continue to bear roses. When their pet- 
als drop, or are blown away by the winds, I 
must bear anew. That is my life! 

So the rose-tree went on blooming; while 
the snail lay and idled away his time in his 
house. 

Years rolled by. 

The snail became dust in the dust; and the 
rose-tree was earth in the earth; but in the 
garden bloomed fresh rose-trees, and imder 
the trees lay new snails. 

And these new rose-trees still bore blos- 
soms, as gifts to the world; and these new 
snails still crept into their houses, and did 
nothing to make the world brighter, or better, 
or more lovely. 


ALL ABOUT THE SNAIL 


SUGGESTIONS EOR FIELD LESSONS 

Shell more or less spiral — new coils added 
as snail increases in size — grows to fit body 
— if cracked or broken will grow again. 

Foot ” extends over whole surface of 
body — is hard and tough at bottom — there 
is a horny valve which is just the size of 

door of shell — when in motion foot 
throws out slime which allows creature to 
slide along. 

Horns: two pair of horns — one pair long 
and slender, on the tip of each a tiny eye — 
the other pair shorter, called feelers.’’ 

Tongue and upper lip covered with fine, 
sharp teeth — with these the snail scrapes off 
soft part of leaves for food. In winter it 


192 


ALL ABOUT THE SNAIL 193 


draws itself inside shell and closes it by se- 
cretion of a gluelike substance, which seals 
it in. 

Eggs vary according to different snails — 
pond-snails attach little bags of eggs to stones 
and grasses — land-snails lay white eggs in 
the earth. 



- k I 

• I 


} * 


t 

/ 

\ % 


K 


k 







I 

' , i 

\ ' 


? 


I 


f 


t ‘ 

\ • 




% 


i 


\ 


f 


‘V 


* 


* 


s 




% 


1 


* 


t 


i 


I 




4 



li 




» 



THE CRAYFISH 



THE CRAYFISH 


IN COAT OF MAIL 

It was a lovely little brook which bubbled 
and babbled past the mountain cottage. Phyl- 
lis was never tired of listening to its song, and 
trying to make out what it really said. 

One morning, she sat on a flat stone quite 
close to the gravelly edge of the water. 

Then, out, at her feet, crawled a gentleman 
in armour. He was clad in a stiff, horny coat 
of brown. The parts fitted over each other 
just as did the old coat of mail in grandma’s 
long hall at home. His coat was brown and 
shiny from the wetting it had just had. 


197 


198 


THE CRAYFISH 


His front legs were very large and strong; 
and, at their tip were great claws which came 
together like nippers. Besides these he had 
five other pairs of smaller legs, each fitted up 
with smaller nippers. 

As he came crawling toward Phyllis, she 
moved back a little, timidly. 

I’m glad you weren’t out wading at the 
same time I was,” she remarked, as she curled 
her bare toes up under her. 

He pushed his eyes out on their pegs, and 
stared at Phyllis. PhyUis, as she watched the 
eyes, stared at the crayfish. 

How do you do that? ” she asked. 

Aren’t your eyes on pegs? And can’t you 
puU your eyes in or push them out as you 
please? I should expect to have my eyes 
knocked off if I kept them like this all of the 
time.” 


IN COAT OF MAIL 


199 


You are a very curious fellow/’ said Phyl- 
lis. 

The crayfish moved his long antennae hack 
and forth and up and down. 

This long air of antennae are my feel- 
ers,” said he. The shorter pair are my or- 
gans of hearing. I don’t call them ears,” and 
he chuckled to himself. 

How can you manage so many legs? ” 
asked Phyllis. 

These are only my walking-legs,” said the 
crayfish. If you were to turn me upside 
down—” 

I sha’n’t try,” said Phyllis, hastily. 

If you should,” the crayfish went on, 
you would see my swimming-feet folded 
away under me ready for use as soon as I 
strike the water. My wife carries her eggs 


200 THE CRAYFISH 

at the end of her swimming feet, or her 
‘ swimmerets,’ as some people call them/’ 
What do you eat? ” Phyllis inquired. 

All sorts of good things. You see I have 
five pairs of jaws as well. I never go hungry. 
I breakfasted on live snails and small fishes.” 

‘‘ But I must go. I saw you sitting here, 
and wondered what you were. They say we 
crabs, both those of us which live in salt water 
and those in fresh water, are very curious. 
It seems to be a family failing; and sometimes 
leads us into trouble.” 

I am glad you came — ” began Phyllis, 
when, to her amazement, she saw the crayfish 
holding out his great claw. 

Good-bye,” he said; but Phyllis did not 
shake hands with him. 


WHERE GO THE BOATS? 


Dark brown is the river, 
Golden is the sand. 

It flows along for ever, 

With trees on either hand. 

Green leaves a-floating, 
Castles of the foam. 

Boats of mine a-boating — 
When will all come home? 

On goes the river 
And out past the mill. 

Away down the valley, 

Away down the hill. 


201 


202 


THE CRAYFISH 


Away down the river, 

A hundred miles or more, 

Other little children 
Shall bring my boats ashore. 
—Robert Louis Stevenson, from “ Child’s 


Garden of Verse.” 


ALL ABOUT THE CRAYFISH 


SUGGESTIONS EOR FIELD LESSONS 

Body: long,— somewhat flattened; with 
a stiff, horny coat set in plates which overlap. 
The coat is shed once each year until the crab 
is fully grown.— Its colour is dark brown. 

Five pairs of legs: first pair is largest; 
and have strong nippers. — Has also flve pairs 
of jaw-feet provided with nippers. — In case 
he loses a leg or an eye, it will grow again in 
the course of a year. 

Six pairs of swinunerets, which, when not in 
use, are folded under the body. In females the 
eggs are attached to the fringed end of the 
swinunerets. 

Two pairs of antennae — the outside pair 

203 


204 


THE CRAYFISH 


very long — which can easily he moved in all 
directions. These are feelers.’’ The inside 
pair is shorter. They are said to be the organs 
of hearing. 

Eyes: compound; set on pegs, and may 
be pushed out or drawn in at will. 


THE TORTOISE, TERRAPIN 
TURTLE 



THE TORTOISE, TER- 
RAPIN, TURTLE 

ANOTHER GENTLEMAN IN A SHELL 

It was the last day they were to spend in the 
mountains, for papa’s vacation was at an end. 

‘‘ Make the most of this day, little girl,” 
said papa, early in the morning. What will 
yon do first? ” 

I think I shall look up the toad first, and 
tell him it is time to start for home. I think 
I shall take him in a box. He has become so 
very friendly. I shall say good night to the 
frogs this evening.” 


207 


208 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 


Well, run along; and be happy,’’ said 
papa, as he gathered up his fishing things. 

Phyllis did not find the toad, though she 
looked and looked. Perhaps he has already 
started for home,” said she to herself. I 
shall look for him in the garden. I think I 
shall see if I can find that fierce crayfish. He 
is so well protected that no harm can ever 
reach him.” 

She found the crayfish; but she did not see 
him long. He was on his way down the tur- 
tle ’s throat. 

, Why, how unkind of you! ” said Phyllis. 

‘‘ How bony he was! ” said the turtle. “ I 
was but getting my breakfast. They tell me 
that there are strange two-legged creatures 
who like soup made from turtles. It seems 
that every strong animal feeds on weaker 


ones. 


GENTLEMAN IN A SHELL 209 


I think you are right/’ said Phyllis. I 
think you are entirely right.” 

The turtle ran out his long neck and looked 
at Phyllis. 

‘‘ Are you going to make me into soup? ” 
he asked. You look very thoughtful. Were 
you thinking of turtle soup? ” 

Oh! no! You are quite safe. We don’t 
make soup out of mud-turtles. How firm and 
hard your shell looks! ” 

Yes,” said the turtle. Mother Nature 
gave me that as a protection against danger. 
You see it is really made up of but two pieces. 
The upper piece is larger and darker than the 
under piece. They come quite together on the 
sides, you see.” The turtle kicked himself 
over on his back. 

From the front of the shells stuck his head 
and long neck and fore legs. From the back 


210 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 

of the shell stuck his tail and his hind legs. 
Suddenly he drew himself out of sight inside 
his shell. 

Phyllis took a stick and turned him over. 

Come back! ’’ she laughed; and the turtle 
ran out his long neck like a flash, and snapped 
a flying beetle. 

I have no teeth, said the turtle; but 
in my jaws are horny plates with hard, sharp 
edges. They form this beak of mine.’’ 

It looks like a parrot’s bill,” said Phyl- 
lis. 

So I’ve heard,” said the turtle. Do you 
notice how flexible my legs are? On land, 
turtles are clumsy and awkward; but in the 
water they can swim and dive very cleverly. 
You see, our legs are quite paddle-shaped, and 
our sharp claws are united by a web. 
u There are many kinds of turtles. Some 


GENTLEMAN IN A SHELL 211 

live entirely upon land. Some live on land and 
in fresh water. Some live in the sea.’’ 

Just then mamma’s skirts rustled on the 
grass. 

Oh, mamma! ” called Phyllis; but, at her 
call, the turtle dived into the water, and did 
not again appear. 

I wish I might have seen him,” said 
mamma, when Phyllis told her of the turtle. 

I could have told him a turtle story that the 
Indians tell.” 

Tell it to me,” laughed Phyllis, ‘‘ and per- 
haps he will be listening near.” 

Perhaps he will,” said mamma, her eyes 
twinkling. We will see. 

Once upon a time there were many turtles 
living in one small lake or pool. During the 
dry season, this pool became quite empty. 

‘‘ When this happened, the turtles set 


212 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 

out across the country, looking for another 
pond. 

Now one old turtle was very large and 
fat. It tired him exceedingly to keep up with 
the others. 

^ My shell is so heavy,’ groaned he; ^ and 
I am sure my shoulders are blistered! ’ 

‘‘ ‘ Why not throw your shell away? ’ 
laughed a saucy young turtle. 

‘‘ ‘ 1 will,’ said the great turtle; and he cast 
his shell aside and walked on his hind feet. 
At first the other turtles laughed; but, by and 
by, they, too, threw off their shells and walked 
erect. 

When they reached the end of their jour- 
ney they were no longer turtles, but men, who 
carved for the totem on their lodge-pole, and 
on their blankets, the turtle. Thus, say the 
Indians, did the Turtle clan begin.” 


GENTLEMAN IN A SHELL 213 


I wish all little girls had mothers with 
heads as full of stories as yours, mamma, 
said Phyllis. 

Thank you,’^ said mamma. I wish all 
mothers had little girls with ears as eager as 
my Phyllis’s.’’ 

And then this lovely mamma kissed her 
lovely daughter; and the turtle, sticking his 
black head out of his shell, wondered what 
they were about, while the bullfrog gave a 
loud croak right in the middle of the day. 


THE TORTOISE AND THE EAGLE 


A tortoise, seeing an eagle in flight, wanted 
much to fly like him. So she asked him if he 
would not teach her to fly. 

He told her that it was impossible; that 
tortoises could not fly. All the more did she 
urge him, so at last the eagle seized her in his 
claws, bore her to a great height, and then, 
letting her go, bade her fly. 

She fell like a stone to the earth; and the 
blow knocked the breath out of her body. 

This fable teaches that men who are envious, 
and refuse to take the advice of those who 
know more than themselves, are apt to get 
into trouble. 


214 


THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE 


A hare once made fun of a tortoise. 

What a slow way you have! ” he said; 
how you creep along! ’’ 

Do I? said the tortoise. Try a race 
with me, and I will beat you.’’ 

You only say that for fun,” said the hare. 
But come! I will race with you. Who will 
mark off the bounds and give the prize? ” 

‘‘‘ Let us ask the fox,” said the tortoise. 
The fox was very wise and fair; so he 
showed them where they were to start, and 
how far they were to rim. 

The tortoise lost no time. She started at 
once, and jogged straight on. 


216 


216 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 

The hare knew he could come to the end in 
two or three jumps; so he lay down and took 
a nap first. By and by he awoke, and then 
ran fast: but when he came to the end, the 
tortoise was already there ! 

Slow and steady wins the race. 


HOW THE TEERAPIN WON THE RACE 

The rabbit was a great runner, and every- 
body knew it. The rabbit was a great boaster, 
and everybody knew that, too. 

The terrapin was anything but a swift- 
footed traveller. And every one knew that. 
The terrapin was a great warrior, and every 
one knew that; for the terrapin liked to boast 
of his battles. 

Often the terrapin and the rabbit disputed 
as to which was the quicker witted, and of the 
most value to the world. 

Bah! said the rabbit, you canT run. 
You can only crawl. You do not know what 
travel and adventure mean.’’ 


217 


218 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 


I can fight,’’ said the terrapin, running 
out his long neck. At this the rabbit drew 
back and looked as though he were preparing 
to run. 

Do not be afraid,” said the terrapin, I 
am not going to fight now. I am going to 
offer to run a race with you.” 

To run a race with me? ” cried the rab- 
bit, his long ears standing up like double 
wonder-marks at the end of a sentence. ‘‘ Go- 
ing to try to run a race with me! ” 

The terrapin wagged his head calmly, and 
the rabbit sat back on his haunches and 
laughed as only a rabbit can laugh. 

And where shall we race? ” he gasped, 
between fits of laughter. 

We will start from here,” said the terra- 
pin. We will run across four mountain 
ridges. The one who comes first to the 


HOW THE TERRAPIN WON 219 


bottom of the fourth ridge shall be the 
winner.” 

Ha, ha! Ha, ha! ” laughed the rabbit. 

When shall this wonderful race take 
place? ” 

Whenever you choose,” replied the terra- 
pin, quietly. 

Let it be to-morrow then,” said the rab- 
bit. To-day I am bidden to a banquet of 
lettuce leaves in a fresh green garden. Be 
sure that you do not grow weary at the mere 
thoughts of the race. Over four mountain 
ridges, remember! ” 

Let it be as you say,” replied the terra- 
pin. I will be ready at simrise to-morrow. 
The one who comes first to the bottom of the 
fourth ridge wins the race? ” 

Yes,” said the rabbit; ‘‘ and I will give 


220 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 

you the first ridge. Then youdl have only 
three to cross while I cross four.’’ 

You are generous! ” said the terrapin. 

But I will give you the first ridge only 
on a condition,” said the rabbit. 

‘‘ And what is the condition? ” asked the 
terrapin; and the other animals, who had 
drawn near to listen, waited eagerly for the 
rabbit’s reply. 

It is that he who loses the race, and ar- 
rives last at the foot of the fourth ridge, shall 
forfeit for ever his right to boast! ” 

I will accept the condition,” replied the 
terrapin, turning away. 

<< Very well,” chuckled the rabbit, watch 
from the top of the first ridge for the signal 
to start.” 

At sunrise? ” asked the terrapin. 

At sunrise,” was the reply. 


HOW THE TERRAPIN WON 221 


When the terrapin left the rabbit, he sent 
at once for his four brothers, and told them 
of the race which had been agreed upon. 

You must be crazy,’’ cried his brothers. 

You know that no terrapin can outrun a 
rabbit! ” 

I know,” said the terrapin. But the 
rabbit is too boastful. I have a plan to put 
a stop to his boastful ways. Will you help 
me? ” 

The terrapin brothers stuck out their long 
necks and wagged their heads. 

We will do as you wish,” they said, for 
none of them loved the rabbit. We will pay 
him for his tricks on us! ” 

The next morning at simrise, the animals 
assembled to see the start. The rabbit was 
there chuckling to himself and nibbling at a 
straw. 


222 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 

Presently one of the terrapin brothers ap- 
peared. 

Look,’’ said he, ‘‘ my brother awaits the 
signal, and the sun has risen.” 

They could scarce see the terrapin because 
of the long grass on the top of the first ridge. 
At the signal, however, he started, and came 
out into plainer view, before he went out of 
sight on the other side. 

The rabbit started out with long, easy 
bounds. He fully expected to come up with 
the terrapin before he was half-way up the 
second ridge. 

Fancy his surprise, when he got to the top 
of the first ridge, to see the terrapin just dis- 
appearing from sight on the top of the second 
ridge. 

That is more than strange,” said the rab- 
bit, and he redoubled his bounds as he began 


HOW THE TERRAPIN WON 223 


to climb the second ridge. When he reached 
the top he was amazed to see the terrapin 
travelling slowly out of sight down the rocks 
of the third ridge. 

Now the rabbit took his longest leaps, and 
his breath came in gasps. It would never do 
to let that slow terrapin win the race. He 
would never hear the last of it should he fail. 
He strained every muscle and soon came to 
the top of the third ridge. Behold! there was 
the terrapin crawling calmly out of sight amid 
the trees which covered the top! 

When he saw this the rabbit knew that he 
was beaten. He knew that he could never 
win the race. The poor boastful rabbit felt 
all his strength leave him. He could not make 
another jump. He just fell over in the grass 
crying, ‘‘Mi! mi! mi! mi! ’’ just as a rabbit 


224 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 

does to this day when he is too tired to ran 
any more. 

The terrapin it was to whom the judges gave 
the race, and they laughed as they reminded 
the rabbit that it was he who was never to 
boast again. 

But to this day, the rabbit and all the other 
animals wonder how the terrapin managed to 
win the race, for every one knows that the ter- 
rapin is no runner, and that the rabbit is the 
swiftest-footed creature on the plains. 

The terrapin family keep their affairs to 
themselves; but a baby terrapin, who knew 
no better, once whispered the story to me. 

He said that one of the terrapin’s brothers 
was stationed on the top of each ridge. When 
the rabbit appeared on the ridge behind him, 
he simply crawled a little way down on the 
other side and hid. At the bottom of the 


HOW THE TERRAPIN WON 225 


fourth ridge sat the terrapin of the race. He 
started at sunset of the night before. If I 
were you I wouldnT tell the rabbit. He was 
really so boastful that he needed the lesson. 


HOW THE TURTLE ESCAPED 


A turtle and a possum went to walk to- 
gether. They came to a wood where persim- 
mon-trees grew. 

Let us watch/’ said the possum. It is 
time for persimmons to ripen. Perhaps we 
may find some.” 

But if we find a tree, it will do me no 
good,” said the turtle. The persimmons 
are good, but they grow so high that no turtle 
can ever reach them.” 

“ Never mind,” said the possum, ‘‘ I can 
climb any tree. I will throw the ripe fruit 
down that you may share it with me.” 

You are very kind,” said the turtle; and 
they hurried on quite swiftly. 


226 


HOW THE TURTLE ESCAPED 227 


It was not long until they came to a tree 
quite filled with delicious persimmons. 

Now up I go/’ said the possum. For 
every persimmon I eat I will throw one down 
to you.” Then the possum slid out of sight 
amid the green leaves, and the turtle sat wait- 
ing. 

Presently down plumped a round, yellow 
persimmon. The turtle stretched out his long 
neck and seized the fruit. How delicious it 
was! 

It waited eagerly for the next persimmon. 
Soon down it came soft and ripe; but it fell 
on the other side of the tree, and, before the 
turtle could reach it, a wolf bounded out from 
the thicket, and snapped up the fruit. Again 
and again the ripe fruit dropped; and again 
and again the wolf snapped it up before the 
turtle could reach it. Now the possum did 


228 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 

not like this any more than the turtle did. 
He began to think of some way to get rid of 
the wolf. At length he hit upon a plan. 

‘‘ Open your mouth, friend turtle,” shouted 
the possum. ‘‘ Here is the largest persimmon 
on the tree. It shall be yours.” 

At that the wolf sprang to the spot, and 
opened his mouth wide. Now this was ex- 
actly what the possum wished. 

Open your mouth wider,” said he. ‘‘ You 
know that I cannot see very well, and I want 
to be sure to hit your mouth. The wolf must 
not get this great persimmon.” 

At that the wolf threw back his head and 
opened his mouth just as wide as possible. 
The possum took good aim, and threw the 
great persimmon down the wolf’s throat. 

It was so large and so tough that it stuck 
in the wolf’s throat, which was exactly what 


HOW THE TURTLE ESCAPED 229 


the possum wished. The wolf choked and 
coughed and coughed and choked. 

He will choke to death/’ cried the turtle. 

“ I think he will/’ said the possum, quietly. 
And sure enough he did. Then the turtle ate 
his persimmons in peace. 

By and by, when he had enough, the turtle 
sat down to rest, while the possum still feasted 
in the persimmon-tree. 

As he sat waiting, he chanced to look at the 
wolf who lay near. His ears would make 
good spoons,” the turtle said to himself. I 
believe I will take them,” and he did. 

Now for many days the turtle flaunted his 
new spoons, and no one knew where they came 
from. One day, however, the wolf’s brother 
came, and saw at once whose ears the turtle 
was using for spoons. 

Then the news spread like wildfire through- 


230 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 

out the country. Do you know that the 
turtle has killed a wolf? ’’ said one animal to 
another. 

And that the wolves are planning a re- 
venge? ’’ said another to his neighbour. 

A great cry was raised; and the wolves got 
together and followed the turtle’s trail until 
they came upon him at sunset, eating soup 
out of the fatal spoons. Now every one knows 
that the turtle is not much of a runner, and it 
was an easy matter for the wolves to make 
him prisoner. 

The wolves carried their prisoner to a place 
in the deep woods beside a pond. There they 
sat and held council, trying to decide on the 
worst possible manner in which to punish the 
turtle for having killed their brother. 

One old gray wolf showed his teeth and 
snarled when he said that he thought the best 


HOW THE TURTLE ESCAPED 231 


possible punishment would be to boil the tur- 
tle for a week in a clay pot. 

Yi-e! Yi-e! Yi-e! ’’ cried the other wolves 
in a chorus. That meant “ Good enough! 
Good enough! Good enough! ’’ 

Do you all agree to this? ’’ asked the 
chief of the wolves; and they answered that 
they agreed. 

The turtle was horribly frightened, but you 
would never have thought so from his appear- 
ance; for, when the wolves agreed to boil him 
for a week in a clay pot, the turtle thrust out 
his long neck and laughed until it seemed he 
would burst his shell. 

<< Why do you laugh? ’’ said the wolves in 
amazement. ‘‘ Do you not see that great pot 
full of water and the fire beneath it? ’’ 

At this the turtle laughed harder than 


ever. 


232 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 


Wliat ails the fellow? ’’ cried the wolves, 
looking doubtfully one at another. 

Oh! Do hurry! Hurry! ’’ cried the turtle. 

It has been long since I have had a good 
swim in hot water. When I am tired, I will 
just kick the pot to pieces, and feel like a new 
turtle.’’ 

Now the wolves were not exactly planning 
to give the turtle a treat; and, as he begged 
them again and again to hurry, the wolves 
let the fire die down, and began to plan a new 
punishment for the turtle. 

‘‘ Let us burn him! ” said the chief. Then 
he can never harm us again.” 

At this the turtle was more frightened than 
before, but you would never have thought so 
from his appearance; for, when the wolves 
agreed to burn him on a bed of live coals, he 
jumped up, clapped his heels together, and 


HOW THE TURTLE ESCAPED 233 


laughed until it seemed he would burst his 
shell. 

<< Why do you laugh? ’’ cried the wolves in 
wonder. ‘‘ Do you not see that great pit of 
live coals we are preparing for you? ’’ 

At this the turtle thrust out his head and 
looked and laughed again. 

Oh! Hurry! Hurry! he cried. It has 
been long since I slept on a bed of live coals. 
They say one’s dreams are so pleasant when 
the coals are hot. Be sure you lay me in the 
middle of the pit; and do not wake me when 
once I am asleep; — and — hurry! ” 

Now the wolves were not intending to give 
the turtle a quiet rest, and pleasant dreams; 
and, as he again danced for glee and bade them 
to hurry, they poured water on the fire, and 
sat in council once more. 


234 TORTOISE, TERRAPIN, TURTLE 

What shall we do? ’’ said the wolves. 

We must be rid of the fellow. 

< ^ Why do we not throw him into the pond ? ’ ’ 
said one. The water is very deep, and the 
mud is deeper.’’ 

Yes, let us drown the turtle,” said an- 
other. 

Then you should have seen the turtle! He 
crept trembling up to the feet of the chief of 
the wolves. He trembled so that he could 
scarcely walk. His voice seemed full of fear 
and his tears dripped to the ground. 

‘‘ What is this? ” cried the wolves. 

Oh! ” begged the turtle; — Do not 
throw me into that cold water. Boil me if you 
like. Burn me if you wish. Hang me to a tree 
ten times taller than the sky ! But don ’t ! Oh ! 
Do not throw me into the deep cold water, 
where the mud is thick at the bottom! ” 


HOW THE TURTLE ESCAPED 235 


Ah, this is better! ’’ laughed the wolves. 
And they seized the turtle on all sides, and 
dragged him down to the pond. There they 
lifted him and threw him with a great splash 
into the water. He struck against a stone as 
he fell, and he felt his shell breaking into 
pieces; but he dived and swam under water 
toward the opposite shore. Then he crawled 
out, and waved to the wolves who sat on the 
bank watching the place where they threw 
him. 

To be sure his shell was badly crushed, but 
to the turtle that mattered little, for he knew 
a powerful medicine-song which would cure 
him of any such accident. 


ALL ABOUT THE TURTLE 


SUGGESTIONS FOE FIELD LESSONS 

Shell: heavy, — usually in two plates, up- 
per and lower. Lower shell yellowish — up- 
per shell dark. Shell joins on sides. The head 
and fore legs project in front. The tail and 
hind legs project in the rear. 

No teeth: the jaws, which are fitted with 
plates with hard, sharp edges, form a sort of 

beak which is very strong. 

The movements of land-turtles are very 
slow and clumsy; but they are very active and 
quick in the water. 

Their eggs are usually laid in sand or mud- 
banks. 


236 


THE TROUT 















“CHE noticed how 
perfectly satis- 
fied her father 
seemed " 



9 


t 


I 


% 


^ 



f 


\ 


t 



I* 


\ 


' * f 



* 







I 




* 

I 




♦ 


V 




f 


L 


< 

I 




« 




% 

4 


« 


4 


« 


« 


f 


4 




I 






4 


•i* 









4 


» 


» 




I 



! 


% 


4 


I 


I 


4 


I 


K 


*% 


y 


% 

I 




«* 



••f 


» 


4 


4 


« 


I 


4 




« 




f 




\ 


i 


I 

i 

4 


4 


I 



1 


f 






V 


I 




I 






t 


4 


I 




« 


4 





I 


« « 


4 


^ » 


I 


i 



4 

f 





i 

-I 


' I 


4 




4 


I 





r 


4 


t 



•* 




to 


• • 


I 


r 


>'• 


I 

4 




4 - 


I 



r 


« 



I 


I 


I 


I 


« 


I 



*4 


! 

« 



I 



I 



t 


« 


4 

I 


I 


9 


4 





9 


r 


4 







4 

^ * » 



I 

i ■ 



4 

I 

r 

4 


4 


♦ 

4 











r ^ 



4 




I 



'f 


'I 


f 






< 


t 1 

• ' 


♦ 


I 


9 



THE TROUT 


HOW THE TBOUT WAS CAUGHT 

To Phyllis it seemed a very warm day. She 
wrinkled her little sunburned nose and sighed. 
Then she looked at her father. He sat in the 
opposite end of the boat and carefully fixed 
a live minnow on his hook. 

Phyllis drew her line from the water. The 
bait was untouched. She sighed again, but 
she noticed how perfectly satisfied her father 
seemed, and she said nothing about going 
home. 

For what are we fishing? ’’ asked Phyl- 
lis. 


239 


240 


THE TROUT 


For trout/’ replied her father, without 
looking up. 

I wish one — ooo-oh ! ” cried Phyllis, 
tugging at her line. 

Sit still! Don’t move!” cried her father, 
taking the line from her hands. 

It’s a trout,” he said, a moment later, as 
the fish fiapped helplessly in the bottom of the 
boat. 

“ Isn’t he big? ” said Phyllis, drawing her 
skirts farther away from the fish. 

Not a very big trout,” said her father. 

I have seen them in Lake Michigan weigh- 
ing a hundred pounds or more.” 

‘‘ Well, I’m glad this one did not weigh that 
much. I thought we should upset as it was.” 

‘‘ This is what we call a brook-trout. They 
seldom weigh more than five or six pounds, 
and they seem to grow fewer and fewer as 


HOW THE TROUT WAS CAUGHT 241 


the years go by. When I was a boy we caught 
trout in every stream. 

The trout seem to like best those streams 
with clear, gravelly bottoms. They like shal- 
low water, which runs with a rapid current 
and here and there deep, quiet pools. 

“ The trout lay their eggs in the fall as soon 
as the weather begins to grow cold. The eggs 
are placed in the gravel bottom of very shal- 
low water. 

<< There they lie until the next spring. As 
soon as the spring sunshine warms the water 
a little the baby trout begin to hatch from the 
eggs. 

When they are a year old they put tiny 
eggs in the gravel, and leave them to hatch. 
The year-old fishes do not produce as many 
eggs as the older ones. Even the older fishes 
seldom produce more than a thousand eggs.’’ 


242 


THE TROUT 


Phyllis looked long at the trout as it lay 
shining in the sunshine. Its head was large, 
and its snout was blunt. It was spotted and 
mottled with greenish black. It had big eyes 
and big mouth. 

Did you catch this fish or did IV’ asked 
Phyllis, looking up with a laugh. 

I think it took us both,’^ laughed papa. 

DonT you think iUs time for lunch? ’’ 

Yes, under those trees on that lovely green 
grass, cried Phyllis, scrambling for the 
lunch-basket. 


HOW THE FIRST TROUT CAME 


A long time ago, so the Indian hunters tell 
us, there was a great monster which lived in 
the water. It was as large as the lodge of the 
great chief. Its jaws were as wide as the 
mouth of the stream which flowed into the 
river. It had claws as long as the antlers of 
the moose, and sometimes the claws stuck out 
of the water like the dead branches of trees. 
These treelike claws were but traps for the 
unwise. 

This dreadful creature had its hiding-place 
in secret. Every few days, when the creature 
was hungry, it would dart out from no one 
knew where. As the children played on the 


243 


244 


THE TROUT 


shore it would strike out with its awful claws 
and snatch one into the water. 

As the hunters in their bark canoes fished 
or paddled about for pleasure, lo! with one 
splash of the great claws the canoe was over- 
turned, and the owner returned no more to the 
shore. 

Come, come,’^ said the hunters. We 
can no longer sit idle and allow this dreadful 
monster to devour our hunters and oiir chil- 
dren. Something must be done to rid the land 
of this creature.’’ 

Ah, but what can be done? ” said the 
squaws. ‘‘ What can be done with a creature 
which one never sees? It is just a mad swirl 
and splash of waters and some one is gone. 
How can we hunt for a creature like that? ” 
‘‘It is true,” said the hunters, “ that we 
have a difficult task. But we are brave and 


THE FIRST TROUT 


245 


fearless. We will set traps and watch and 
wait. We will yet be rid of the monster.’’ 

So the hunters of the tribe set all manner of 
traps and snares, but into them the monster 
did not fall. 

At last they made a great hook, and to the 
hook they fastened a rope of strong deer- 
string. They baited the hook with the leg of 
a deer. Then patiently they sat down to wait. 

It was near morning when from where they 
sat the hunters saw the treehke claws appear 
above the water. They looked at one another 
and tightened their grasp upon the line. One, 
who was a coward, sneaked away. 

In an instant the claw seized upon the leg 
of the deer, and it was thrust into the mon- 
ster’s throat, hook and all. Ah, then it was 
that the danger came. For there was the 
monster without a doubt. The water was 


246 


THE TROUT 


lashed as white as cream on every side. The 
great claws rose and fell, rose and fell, in the 
water like bare branches in a whirlpool. 

The himters held bravely to the line, and 
pulled it ever nearer and nearer shore. Other 
hunters stood with knives ready as soon as 
the terrible creature should appear. 

By and by news came to the hiding squaws 
and children that the monster was dead. What 
a shout went up from the little Indian village 
when they saw the black and white mottled 
scales of the dreaded foe! 

Let us cut him up into little bits and throw 
him back into the water,’’ cried a little Indian 
girl. 

It is well,” said the Indian chief, and 
without more ado the Indians, both braves 
and squaws, set upon the creature with their 
knives. They hacked and hewed it into pieces, 


THE FIRST TROUT 


247 


— some were big and some were little. Wben 
the entire body was cut up they began throw- 
ing the pieces into the water. 

But as the great scales flashed through the 
early sunshine they were seen to quiver and 
move. Then the people gazed at each other 
in horror. 

What if from each of these smaller pieces 
another great monster should be born? A 
hunter caught one of the pieces as it swam 
through the water. It was a trout, which he 
held in his hand. 

No,’^ said the wise man of the tribe, the 
monster will never again appear in this land. 
Our hunters and our children need no longer 
fear its hideous claws. In its place — in the 
place of every little bit of flesh thrown into the 
water — shall grow a trout. 

it There shall be many kinds and many sizes 


248 


THE TROUT 


of trout, as there were many shapes and many 
pieces of the monster thrown into the water. 

So it is, the Indians tell us, that the first 
trout came to swim in the waters of our brooks 
and lakes. 


ALL ABOUT THE BEOOK-TEOUT 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FIELD LESSONS 

Body; oblong — somewhat compressed. 
Head: long. 

Snout: blunt. 

Mouth: large. 

Eyes: large. 

Colour: back quite thickly mottled with an 
olive black — belly of male often with red tint. 


249 








THE PERCH FAMILY 


INCLUDING SUNFISH — CRAPPIE 


BASS — PERCH 


V 


I • ' , 

> »,> 

'• 1 I '■ ' 

. ' 


( 

» 






/ 



ft 


\ 


1 

1 


j 


♦ 


■ 1 



. 1 

i : 


I 


t 


I 


’t 


\ 

i 

4 

1 

1 

i 



THE PERCH FAMILY 


INCLUDING SUNFISH — CRAPPIE — 
BASS — PERCH 

THE DAY’S CATCH 

J ack and Ms father did not come home that 
day until after sunset. 

Where have you been? ” asked Phyllis. 

I have been sitting out on the rocks for 
hours waiting for you! ” 

‘‘ Oh, such a day as we have had! ” cried 
Jack. Never did fishermen have such luck 
before! ” and he displayed a string of silvery 
fish. 

No wonder you stayed all day,” cried 


253 


254 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


Phyllis, admiringly. May I go with you 
another time? ’’ 

‘‘ We are going again to-morrow,’’ said 
Jack. Papa says you and mother are to go 
with us.” 

What kind of fish is this? ” Phyllis in- 
quired, pointing to a speckled beauty, whose 
scaly sides glistened in the firelight. 

Sunfish,” said Jack. Isn’t he little and 
round and shining like the sun? You see this 
one is orange red underneath. He is called 
the red-breasted sunfish because of that col- 
our. AU sunfish have brilliant colour, how- 
ever, and none of them are very large. They 
are quite good as food, though.” 

And this? ” asked Phyllis, pointing to a 
larger fish, one perhaps a foot long. It was 
a greenish silver, mottled with dark green. 
Its tail and the large fin on its back were well 


THE DAY’S CATCH 


255 


marked with dark green, while the large 
under-fin was quite light. 

‘‘ Ah,” said Jack, with a brightening of his 
eye. That fish gave me the most sport of 
the day. That is a crappie.” 

A crappie? ” said Phyllis, laughing. 

What a funny name! ” 

It’s a funny fish,” said Jack. “ I baited 
my hook with a small minnow, and it was not 
a minute until this fellow took it. 

But his mouth was tender — father says 
that crappies’ mouths are usually very ten- 
der — and the hook tore out and crappie got 
away with the minnow. 

Of course I was disappointed, and, be- 
sides, I did not like to waste my minnow. I 
put on another minnow, however, and threw 
my line again. 

In less than two minutes there was a nib- 


256 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


bling and bobbing which told me that Mr. 
Crappie was back to finish his luncheon off 
from my hook.’’ 

He must have been very brave,” said 
Phyllis, to return after your hook had torn 
his mouth.” 

He must have been very greedy, too,” 
said Jack. 

Well? ” 

Well, the second time I was more careful 
to pull my line in the right manner. My! 
what a fiutter and spatter he did make when 
he found himself outside the water. I thought 
he would surely tear himself from the hook 
again before I could land him. He did not 
struggle long, however. Father says this is 
usually true of crappies. They make a great 
fight at first, but they do not hold out long.” 

He is a beauty,” said Phyllis. 


THE DAY^S CATCH 


257 


Silvery green, mottled with dark green. 
The dark green seems to run in narrow, in- 
distinct stripes from head to tail. How sil- 
very its sides and how pearly white under- 
neath! ’’ 

Down South,’’ said papa, coming in just 
then, down South the crappie is sometimes 
called the ‘ chinkapin perch,’ and sometimes 
the ^ sac a lai.’ In the Western States it is 
called ^ grass bass.’ 

The crappie is a fresh- water fish, and 
belongs to the perch family. Crappies may 
be found in the fresh-water lakes and ponds 
and streams all over the United States, from 
North to South. Do you remember in what 
sort of a place you caught this handsome fel- 
low? ” 

Why, yes,” said Jack; it was just 
where that great tree had fallen into the 


258 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


water. I remember I feared my line would 
become entangled in the branches.’^ 

Good fishermen/’ said papa, know that 
crappies love to lie about in the bushy tops 
of trees which have fallen into the water, or 
amid the underbrush of the water. 

‘‘ A live minnow is the best bait for crap- 
pies; they do not care at all for worms, but 
they will accept a small piece of fish if you 
have no minnows.” 

‘‘ I will remember their favourite foods,” 
said Jack, laughing. ‘‘ I may wish to treat 
him to a minnow some day before I dine on 
crappie.” 

The crappies make very good food,” said 
his father, ‘‘ only when they are found in clear 
water. Those which have lived in the muddy 
water of streams and ponds are apt to have 


THE DAY^S CATCH 


259 


a disagreeable flavour, but those taken from 
clear fresh water are delicious. 

They are never very large. This one is 
about a foot in length. I should think it about 
the average length of a full-grown crappie. 

Crappies eat whatever small live things 
they And in the water. Their eggs are placed 
in nests, which the flsh makes and watches 
over until the eggs hatch. The young come 
out in the spring, and then the lakes and 
streams in the Southern States seem to swarm 
with baby crappies. 

‘‘ Many of these streams become dry later 
in the season, and thousands of crappies 
perish in the hot sunshine.’’ 

Oh! but I’m glad this fellow lived for 
me to catch,” said Jack, looking at the flsh 
fondly. I hope I’ll catch another to-mor- 


row. 


260 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


If we wish an early start we had better 
be starting off for ‘ Slumber Town ^ now/’ 
said mamma. 

How far is it to ‘ Slumber Town ” 
asked papa, laughing. 

Forty winks when the sun goes down,” 
answered Phyllis. 

Jack rubbed his eyes sleepily. 

Can I reach it to-night, do you suppose? ” 
‘‘ Yes,” Phyllis answered, — 

If you take the first train that goes; 

That is the one for children to take; 

It gives plenty of time the trip to make. 

Old ‘ Mr. Nap,’ the engineer. 

Is a kind old man, full of good cheer. 

For the little folks he runs a special car. 

It is crowded with children from near and far. 


THE DAY’S CATCH 


261 


‘ Nod/ the conductor, tho’ a little slow, 
Will treat you right where’er you go. 


The noisy brakeman, whose name is ‘ Snore,’ 
Calls out the stations at the door. 

Don’t eat too much when you start, my 
dear. 

And ‘ Nightmare Tunnel ’ you need not fear. 
For this is the place where goblins dwell. 

And frightful witches weave their spell. 


^ Lullaby ’ is a village sweet. 

Where babies are found on every street. 
This train runs through the ^ Valley of 
Dreams,’ 

Where the fairies play by crystal streams. 

It stops awhile at the cave of ^ Eest,’ 

And tired ones like this place the best. 


262 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


Most of the trains to ‘ Slumber Town ’ 
Start only after the sun goes down. 

For the travellers small there are a few 
That make the trip in daytime, too. 

All aboard! little folks, and shut your eyes 
tight, 

Your train has started, so a pleasant good- 
night! ’’ 

Laughing merrily, the children scampered 
off to catch the train for Slumber Town,’’ 
and soon the whole family reached the cave 
of Rest.” 


THE MERMAID 


Once in the land of Unst a man walked 
alone on the seashore when the moon was 
round and full and the waves lapped the shore 
very quietly. 

As he strolled along he came upon a large 
pile of sealskins lying on the great rocks near 
by. At first the man of Unst thought some 
careless hunter had left these sealskins. But 
looking again he saw that there were more 
of them than a hunter could catch in a whole 
season. 

‘‘ I will watch/’ said the man, and he hid 
himself behind the rock and waited. 

Presently he saw dancing toward him in 
the moonlight a number of enchantingly beau- 


263 


264 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


tiful maidens. They sang as they danced, and 
their voices were as soft and sweet as the 
lapping of the waters on the shore. Their 
hair shone in the moonlight, and it was as 
bright and golden as the path the moon made 
across the water. Their eyes were as softly 
bright as the stars on a moonlight night. 

They came directly to the rock, and each 
gathered up a sealskin and slipped into it, 
when, lo! they were just brown seals swim- 
ming off through the water. 

But once started, the seals turned back as 
if waiting. He watched and wondered. 

Then he saw that one sealskin had slid from 
the rock and lay at his feet. He gathered it 
up, hardly understanding, for the moment, 
what it meant. Taking it under his arm, he 
turned and went to his hut on the shore. 
Then he folded the sealskin away in a cedar- 


THE MERMAID 


265 


wood chest, the key of which he carried always 
with him. 

The man of Unst turned again toward the 
shore. He saw that the seals were sporting 
in the water a half-mile out at sea. 

He looked again, and behold! nearer, on the 
beach, was a lovely maiden, more beautiful 
than any of the others. She seemed troubled, 
and searched frantically among the rocks for 
something which she could not find. 

The beautiful maiden turned when she 
heard the tread of the man of Unst on the 
pebbles. Tears stood in her eyes, and she 
trembled with fear. 

Nay,’’ said the man, do not tremble so. 
I will do you no harm. Do not be troubled.” 

Alas! ” said the maiden, and her voice 
was as sweet as the wave voices when the 
tide is low, alas, I have lost my sealskin 


266 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


dress, and without it I can never return to 
my home.’’ 

And where is your home? ” the man in- 
quired. 

At the bottom of the sea,” she said, 
u T}iere is a great white plain of sand as fine 
as dust. On this plain the mermen plant their 
gardens of seaweeds and mosses. On this 
plain the mermen build their houses of coral 
and pearl. Their carriages are great sea- 
shells, and they are lined with mother-of- 
pearl and cushioned with sea-foam. 

It is there in the beautiful land under the 
sea that we mermaids live. We are happy 
folk, and in the main we are contented. But 
oftentimes, just as you land-people grow dis- 
contented with the things you have, be they 
ever so lovely, so we sometimes long for a 
change. 


THE MERMAID 


267 


To-night, as we wandered about in the 
soft twilight of our seaweed gardens, one of 
the mermaids remembered that on this night 
the moon was round and large and bright as 
polished silver. 

^ Let us go to the land of air,’ said I, ^ and 
have a frolic in the moonlight.’ 

^ Let us, indeed! ’ cried all the mermaids 
together, and without a moment’s delay we 
slipped into our sealskins and took the form 
of seals, and swam upward through the 
water.” 

And then, remembering her loss, the mer- 
maid again burst into tears and began search- 
ing among the rocks. 

I fear it has washed away,” she said. 

If I do not find it I shall be compelled to 
stay alone here upon the land.” 

Nay,” said the man, looking into the blue- 


268 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


green eyes of the maiden, and thinking how 
lik e in colour they were to the sea-waves. 

Nay, indeed, I do not think you would be 
lonely. My home is not made of coral and 
pearl. My cart is not made of mother-of- 
pearl nor cushioned with sea-foam. But if you 
will come to my home, it shall be yours also. 
I will share with you whatsoever I have. I 
will love you tenderly, and care for you as 
long as I live.’’ 

The sea-maiden shook her head tearfully. 

My home is in the sea,” she said. I 
should be more happy among my own people. 
Please help me look for my sealskin, for with- 
out it I cannot return thither.” 

But the man, as he saw more and more how 
lovely the mermaid was, wished her to remain 
on land. He felt of the key to make sure that 
it was safe, Then he wandered about on the 


THE MERMAID 


269 


rocks with the mermaid as she searched for 
the sealskin. 

The moon set at last, and thick darkness 
fell over all the earth. Then with a sigh the 
sea-maiden turned to the man of Unst. 

For this one night,’’ she said, I will 
accept your hospitality, for you are very 
kind.” 

So the man led her to his home, and spread 
for her a bed of rushes that had the smell of 
the sea in them. On these the maiden rested 
until morning came. 

At the earliest glow of dawn, however, she 
was again on the beach, renewing her search. 
But now the waves were rough and wild, and 
beat furiously against the place where she had 
placed the sealskin. 

It is useless,” she said, and she turned 
again to the house. 


270 


THE PEECH FAMILY 


“ I fear that my search is useless/’ said 
she to the man of tJnst. The waves must 
have washed my coat far away. You have 
been kind and thoughtful for me. I am grate- 
ful. If you wish me to share your life, I will 
do so, for I can nevermore return to my own 
home.” 

And the man looked at the sea-maiden, 
whose hair was like the golden, ripply path 
which the moon throws across the water, and 
he felt again to see that the key was secure, 
and in his heart he was very happy, and did 
not know that he was selfish. 

So it happened that for many years the man 
of Unst lived by the shore with his beautiful 
wife, who was once a mermaid, and who was 
now the mother of his children. 

To her he was always kind and thoughtful 
and loving, and as the years passed and he 


THE MERMAID 


271 


loved her more, he guarded the key more care- 
fully than ever. 

And every day the sea-maiden walked on 
the seashore and looked sadly seaward. Some- 
times in the moonlight she saw seals sporting 
in the water — but they never came near. 

Sometimes she looked down into the pink 
and white faces of her babies, and remem- 
bered the mother-of-pearl of which the mer- 
maids’ carriages are made. Sometimes as she 
kissed their red lips, she was reminded of the 
coral doorway in her deep-sea home. 

Then, after many days, a strange thing hap- 
pened. The man dropped the key as he sat 
on the very rock where he first met the sea- 
maiden. He did not miss it for hours, and in 
the meantime his baby boy, at play on the 
sand, picked it up and carried it to his mother. 

She tried if it would fit the cedar chest, for 


272 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


she had long wished to see what the chest 
contained. 

The rusty lock turned, and there at the 
bottom of the chest lay the sealskin. She 
snatched it up with a laugh that was like 
the gurgle of the water when the wind rises, 
and sped to the seashore. She slipped into the 
sealskin and glided off into the water. 

Before she dived to the unknown depths 
she turned toward the shore and took one last 
look at her husband and children, then with a 
splash she disappeared from their sight. 


PHYLLISES CATCH 


When Phyllis opened her eyes the next 
morning, she saw that the sun was not shin- 
ing. Gray clouds covered the entire sky, and 
the air seemed warm and heavy. 

It looks like rain,’’ she said. I don’t 
believe we will go.” 

But when she was dressed she found her 
mother packing up the lunch, and Jack carry- 
ing the raincoats and fishing-rods down to the 
boat. 

Isn’t it great? ” cried Jack. 

What? ” asked Phyllis. 

<< Why, this day, to be sure.” 

I was just thinking that it wasn’t a very 
nice day,” said Phyllis. It looks like rain.” 

273 


274 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


‘‘ Oh, dear! said Jack. I shall never be 
able to make a fisherman of you, Phyllis. 
How often must I tell you that this is the 
kind of a day for fishing. When it is warm 
and cloudy, and not much wind blowing. 
Why, this day is just perfect.’^ 

‘‘ From the looks of things,’’ said Phyllis, 
glancing again at the clouds, I should think 
you might catch a whale to-day.” 

You wait and see,” said Jack. 

It was still cloudy and sultry when they 
started. Jack and his father were delighted, 
and laughed when mamma said it would rain. 

They rowed straight to the spot where they 
had caught the crappie the day before. 

It is a good place for bass,” said Jack. 
Father says they are often found with crap- 
pies.” 

Yes,” said his father, baiting a hook with 


PHYLLIS’S CATCH 


275 


a minnow, and giving the pole to Phyllis, 
“ the rock-bass prefers cool, clear water. 
You scarcely ever find one in shallow, muddy 
water. I think we find them more often in 
streams and rivers than in the quieter waters 
of lakes and ponds.” 

And yet the water is very quiet here,” 
said Phyllis. 

Ah, yes,” said her father, it delights to 
swim about in the quiet water of deep holes, 
where great rocks or tree-stumps of fallen 
trees offer a sort of hiding-place.” 

Sh-h! ” said Jack. Be still! IVe got 
one! ” 

He handled his line with all the skill and 
importance of a true sportsman, and pulled 
out a — sunfish, a very small, shiny sunfish, 
which fiuttered and flopped quite wildly at 
thus finding itself in the air. Jack looked 


276 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


so disappointed that Phyllis did not laugh, 
but his father smiled. 

Not a bass nor a crappie that time,’’ he 
said. 

Then they began fishing in earnest. They 
did not speak except in low, quiet tones. They 
watched the fioats with eagerness. Once their 
father looked approvingly at the clouds, and 
said it was just the day for fishing. Phyllis 
began to yawn. She could not seem to under- 
stand how J ack, who was usually so active and 
talkative, liked to sit for hours without mov- 
ing or speaking. 

Just then she felt a tug at her line which 
almost jerked the rod from her hands. She 
grasped it more firmly, and began to pull in 
the line. But again the rod was almost 
snatched from her hands. 

‘‘ Give it more line,” said her father, ex- 


PHYLLIS’S CATCH 


277 


citedly. It seemed to Phyllis that yards and 
yards were spun off her reel. 

How hard he pulls,” cried Phyllis, and 
then J ack, in his excitement, dropped his own 
rod and grasped hers. 

How long will he fight? ” asked Phyllis, 
jmnping about rather recklessly in the boat. 

Suddenly the fish was quiet. 

He is tired out,” said father; pull him 

in.” 

Jack pulled the fish alongside the boat, and 
his father lifted it in. It was fifteen inches 
long, and it weighed about two and a half 
pounds. 

In colour it was bluish green on the back, 
and was greatly mottled with black. All over 
it there seemed a soft golden tinge. On each 
scale there was a little dark spot, and taken 


278 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


altogether these formed sort of irregular 
stripes. Its eyes were quite red. 

How large its mouth is! said Phyllis. 

Yes/’ said her father, one can always 
tell a bass by the great size and peculiar shape 
of its mouth. They cannot be so easily known 
from their colour, as they vary greatly in 
different localities.” 

Its tail was only slightly forked. Its fins 
were touched with a rosy white, and the under 
part of the body was pure white. 

Let’s go ashore and cook him,” said Jack. 

Oh, yes,” said Phyllis, feeling hungry at 
once. 

It is scarcely time,” said their father, 

but it will take some time to gather sticks 
and start the fire.” 

‘‘lam very hungry,” said Phyllis, solemnly. 

“ I am nearly starved,” declared Jack. 


PHYLLIS’S CATCH 


279 


We had better go ashore at once,” said 
mamma, laughing. 

So the boat was drawn up on shore, and the 
lunch-basket and frying-pans taken to a shady 
spot which mamma selected. 

Jack and his father dressed the fishes, gath- 
ered the sticks, built the fire, and cooked the 
bass, while Phyllis and her mother spread the 
table-cloth on the grass, and spread out the 
sandwiches and cakes and fruit. 

Isn’t it fun to live out-of-doors! ” said 
Phyllis, as she stood back and looked at the 
picnic-lunch and smelled the frying fish. 

Isn’t it jolly! ” cried Jack, carrying the 
platter of steaming fish. That was a good 
catch, Phyllis.” 

I think it was really yours,” said Phyllis. 

No, it was your bite, but I helped you 
land it,” said Jack, between mouthfuls. 


280 


THE PEECH FAMILY 


It was a bass,’’ said Phyllis, inquiringly. 

Yes, a rock-bass,” replied her father. 
Sometimes it is called the ^ rockfish.’ Some- 
times it is called ‘ redeye,’ or ^ goggle-eye,’ 
because of its peculiar red eyes. 

Eemember that this is fresh- water bass, 
and for a fresh-water bass it is a very good 
size. They seldom weigh more than a couple 
of poimds. 

The sea-bass, however, are a great many 
times larger. They sometimes weigh twenty- 
five pounds. It is sport indeed to catch them. ’ ’ 

Oh, father,” cried Jack, ‘‘ next year let’s 
go to the seashore.” 
u Perhaps,” said his father, smiling. 


HOW JACK CAUGHT THE PERCH 


When they returned to the boat after 
luncheon, there lay the common little sunfish 
which Jack displayed laughingly as his morn- 
ing ^s catch. 

Only a little pumpkin-seed,’’ he said, 
holding it up by its tail. 

Do you remember how Hiawatha caught 
the sunfish? ” asked mamma. 

Slowly upward, wavering, gleaming. 

Rose the Ugudwash, the Sunfish; 

Seized the line of Hiawatha, 

Swung with all his weight upon it. 

‘^^But when Hiawatha saw him 

Slowly rising through the water, 

281 


282 


THE PEECH FAMILY 


Lifting up Ms disc refulgent, 

Loud lie shouted in derision. 

Esa! esa! Shame upon you, 

You are Ugudwash, the Sunfish; 

You are not the fish I wanted: 

You are not the king of fishes! ’’ ’ ’’ 

‘‘ Perhaps you will catch the king of fishes 
this afternoon,’^ said Phyllis, kindly. 

Jack looked at the clouds, which were grow- 
ing thicker. 

IPs just the kind of a — ” he began, but 
he stopped, when Phyllis commenced to laugh. 

You say that so often, she said. 

Well, you just wait and see,’’ said Jack. 

No more pumpkin-seeds for me to-day.” 

I hope not,” said mamma. 

And whether it was that the clouds were 
just right, or that they found exactly the 


JACK CAUGHT THE PERCH 283 


right spot, or that Phyllis kept so still, I can- 
not say, but certainly, for some reason. Jack’s 
luck was wonderful that afternoon. 

First there came a crappie, which he drew 
in carefully without tearing its mouth. Then 
came a small rock-perch, which swallowed the 
minnow in haste, and repented of it when it 
felt the hook and the strength of Jack’s new 
line. 

And then — last and most wonderful of all 
— he landed fairly and exultantly a most 
beautiful specimen of yellow perch. It 
weighed four and a half pounds, and his 
father said it was the largest perch he had 
ever seen. It made a great fight, and Jack 
was a proud boy when he saw it safe in the 
boat. 

The yellow perch is not usually much of a 
fighter,” said his father, but where the water 


284 


THE PEECH FAMILY 


is cold and deep, it is most apt to show signs 
of fight. 

The perch likes lakes better than streams, 
and quite deep water. Put in your hook again, 
my boy. Perch may be usually found in 
^ schools,’ and there are probably a lot more 
near here. 

‘‘ The eggs are very small, and there are an 
exceedingly great number of them. They are 
arranged in a queer manner, being laid in a 
mass which unfolds like a long ribbon. The 
length of a string of eggs sometimes measures 
six feet.” 

I can easily see why it is called the yellow 
perch,” said Jack, looking at the fish’s sides. 

They are golden yellow, and his lower fins 
are a bright orange, and its head is coppery 
in colour. The lower part of its body is 
creamy white.” 


JACK CAUGHT THE PEECH 285 


Just then there was another bobbing of the 
float. Up came another perch. 

‘‘ IsnT it fun! ’’ cried Phyllis, her dark eyes 
dancing with excitement. 

Isn’t it? ” said mamma, watching her 

boy. 

‘‘ I believe this has been the best day of 
all,” declared Phyllis, as they returned home 
that night. 

‘‘ That’s what I think every single day,” 
said Jack, looking anxiously toward the place 
where the simset was turning the clouds red 
and gold. 

I think to-morrow will be a good day for 
Ashing, Jackie,” said mamma, as she followed 
the direction of her son’s eyes. 


ALL ABOUT THE PERCH FAMILY 


SUGGESTIONS FOR FIELD LESSONS 

Sunfish: many different varieties — small 
common sunfish called pumpkin-seed ’’ — 
reddish yellow fish called the red-breasted 
sunfish.’’ 

Body ovate — compressed — mouth small 

— scales rather large — colour brilliant and 
changing. 

Crappie: body rather short — snout long, 
projecting. 

Mouth large — oblique. 

Colour silvery olive, with spots of dark 
green — the green spots form bars or stripes 

— lower part of body white. 


ABOUT THE PERCH FAMILY 287 


Rock - bass; body long, compressed — 
month large, lower jaw projecting. 

Colour olive green, tinged with copper — 
much dark mottling — dark spot on each 
scale, forming irregular stripes. 

Frequents deep, cool pools in streams or 
rivers — takes the hook with vim — fights, 
however, but does not continue long — min- 
nows good bait for it. 

Eggs placed in nest in water where current 
is not strong, and are carefully watched by 
parent fishes. 

Yellow perch: found chiefly in Eastern 
United States — body long — back broad — 
mouth very large — average weight about two 
and a half pounds. 

Colour: sides golden yellow, with about six 
dark bars — lower fins orange — at spawn- 


288 


THE PERCH FAMILY 


ing-time bright red — head coppery — belly 
white. 

Eggs: deposited in single mass, which, as 
it develops, unfolds in a long string or ribbon 
— eggs very small and very numerous. 


BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


THE LITTLE COLONEL BOOKS 

(Trade Mark.) 

By ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON 

Each, I voL, large 1 2mo, cloth decorative, fully illustrated, 
per vol $1-50 

The Little Colonel Stories. 

(Trade Mark.) 

Illustrated. 

Being three “ Little Colonel ” stories in the Cosy 
Corner Series, “ The Little Colonel,” “ Two Little 
Knights of Kentucky,” and “ The Giant Scissors,” put 
into a single volume. 

The Little Colonel’s House Party. 

(Trade Mark.) 

Illustrated by Louis Meynell. 

The Little Colonel’s Holidays. 

(Trade Mark.) 

Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman. 

The Little Colonel’s Hero. 

(Trade Mark.) 

Illustrated by E. B. Barry. 

The Little Colonel at Boarding 

(Trade Mark.) 

School. 

Illustrated by E. B. Barry. 

The Little Colonel in Arizona. 

(Trade Mark.) 

Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman. 

Since the time of “ Little Women,” no juvenile heroine 
has been better beloved of her child readers than Mrs. 
Johnston’s “Little Colonel.” Each succeeding book 
has been more popular than its predecessor. 


2 


L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY'S 


Joel : A Boy of Galilee. 

By Annie Fellows Johnston. Illustrated by L. J. 

Bridgman. 

New illustrated edition, uniform with the Little Colonel 
Books, I vol., large i2mo, cloth decorative . $1.50 

A story of the time of Christ, which is one of the 
author’s best-known books, and which has been trans- 
lated into many languages, the last being Italian. 

Flip’s “ Islands of Providence.” by 

Annie Fellows Johnston. 

1 2mo, cloth, with illustrations . . . $1.00 

In this book the author of “ The Little Colonel ” and 
her girl friends and companions shows that she is 
equally at home in telling a tale in which the leading 
character is a boy, and in describing his troubles and 
triumphs in a way that will enhance her reputation as a 
skilled and sympathetic writer of stories for children. 


Asa Holmes; or, at the cross -roads, a 

sketch of Country Life and Country Humor. By 
Annie Fellows Johnston. With a frontispiece by 
Ernest Fosbery. 

Large i6mo, cloth, gilt top . . . . $1.00 

“ ‘ Asa Holmes ; or, At the Cross-roads * is the most de- 
lightful, most sympathetic and wholesome book that has been 
published in a long while. The lovable, cheerful, touching 
incidents, the descriptions of persons and things are wonder- 
fully true to nature.” — Boston Times. 

The Great Scoop. By Molly Elliot Sea- 
well, author of “ Little Jarvis,” « Laurie Vane,” etc. 
i2mo, cloth, with illustrations . . . $ 1.00 

A capital tale of newspaper life in a big city, and of 
a bright, enterprising, likable youngster employed therein. 
Every boy with an ounce of true boyish blood in him 
will have the time of his life in reading how Dick Hen- 
shaw entered the newspaper business, and how he 
secured “ the great scoop.” 


BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


3 


Little Lady Marjorie. By Francis Mar- 
garet Fox, author of “ Farmer Brown and the 
Birds,” etc. 

i2mo, cloth, illustrated ^51.50 

A charming story for children between the ages of ten 
and fifteen years, with both heart and nature interest. 

The Sandman : His Farm Stories. By 
William J. Hopkins. With fifty illustrations by 
Ada Clendenin Williamson. 

One vol., large i2mo, decorative cover . . ^1.50 

“An amusing, original book, written for the benefit of 
children not more than six years old, is, ‘ The Sandman : His 
Farm Stories.’ It should be one of the most popular of the 
year’s books for reading to small children.” — Buffalo Express. 

“ Mothers and fathers and kind elder sisters who take the 
little ones to bed and rack their brains for stories will find this 
book a treasure.” — Cleveland Leader. 

The Sandman : More Farm Stories. By 
William J. Hopkins, author of “ The Sandman; 
His Farm Stories.” 

Library i2mo, cloth decorative, fully illustrated, $1.50 
Mr. Hopkins’s first essay at bedtime stories has met 
with such approval that this second book of “ Sandman ” 
tales has been issued for scores of eager children. Life 
on the farm, and out-of-doors, will be portrayed in his 
inimitable manner, and many a little one will hail the 
bedtime season as one of delight. 

A Puritan Knight Errant. By Edith 

Robinson, author of “ A Little Puritan Pioneer,” “ A 
Little Puritan’s First Christmas,” “ A Little Puritan 
Rebel,” etc. 

Library i2mo, cloth decorative, illustrated . ^1.50 

The charm of style and historical value of Miss 
Robinson’s previous stories of child life in Puritan days 
have brought them wide popularity. Her latest and 
most important book appeals to a large juvenile public. 
The “ knight errant ” of this story is a little Don Quixote, 
whose trials and their ultimate outcome will prove 
deeply interesting to their reader. 


4 


L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY'S 


Beautiful Joe’s Paradise; OR, The Island 

OF Brotherly Love. A sequel to “ Beautiful Joe.*’ 
By Marshall Saunders, author of “ Beautiful Joe,” 
“ For His Country,” etc. With fifteen full-page plates 
and many decorations from drawings by Charles Liv- 
ingston Bull. 

One vol., library i2mo, cloth decorative . . $1.50 

“ Will be immensely enjoyed by the boys and girls who 
read it.” — Pittsburg Gazette. 

“ Miss Saunders has put life, humor, action, and tenderness 
into her story. The book deserves to be a favorite.” — 
Chicago Record-Herald. 

“This book revives the spirit of ‘ Beautiful Joe ’ capitally. 
It is fairly riotous with fun, and as a whole is about as un- 
usual as anything in the animal book line that has seen the 
light. It is a book for juveniles — old and young.” — Phila- 
delphia Item. 

*TiIda June. By marshall Saunders, author 
of “ Beautiful Joe,” etc. 

One vol., i2mo, fully illustrated, cloth, decorative 
cover ^1.50 

“No more amusing and attractive child’s story has ap- 
peared for a long time than this quaint and curious recital of 
the adventures of that pitiful and charming little runaway. 

“ It is one of those exquisitely simple and truthful books 
that win and charm the reader, and I did not put it down 
until I had finished it — honest 1 And I am sure that every 
one, young or old, who reads will be proud and happy to 
make the acquaintance of the delicious waif. 

“ I cannot think of any better book for children than this. 
I commend it unreservedly.” — Cyrus Townsend Brady. 

The Story of the Oraveleys. By Mar- 
shall Saunders, author of “ Beautiful Joe’s Para- 
dise,” “ ’Tilda Jane,” etc. 

Library i2mo, cloth decorative, illustrated by E. B. 
Barry . . .... . . $1.50 

Here we have the haps and mishaps, the trials and 
triumphs, of a delightful New England family, of whose 
devotion and sturdiness it will do the reader good to 
hear. From the kindly, serene-souled grandmother to 
the buoyant madcap, Berty, these Graveleys are folk of 
fibre and blood — genuine human beings. 








f » • 



'• . * . ■ 'V 








